HF 2454

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to retirement; Public Employees Retirement 
  1.3             Association; creating a postsentencing officers and 
  1.4             emergency dispatchers retirement plan; appropriating 
  1.5             money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, sections 
  1.6             3.85, subdivisions 11, 12; 353.01, subdivision 2b; 
  1.7             355.01, by adding subdivisions; 355.02, subdivision 3; 
  1.8             356.20, subdivision 2; 356.215, subdivisions 8, 11; 
  1.9             356.30, subdivision 3; 356.302, subdivision 7; 
  1.10            356.303, subdivision 4; 356.315, by adding a 
  1.11            subdivision; 356.465, subdivision 3; 356.555, 
  1.12            subdivision 4; Minnesota Statutes 2003 Supplement, 
  1.13            section 352.01, subdivision 2b; proposing coding for 
  1.14            new law as Minnesota Statutes, chapter 353G. 
  1.15  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.16                             ARTICLE 1
  1.17               POSTSENTENCING OFFICERS AND EMERGENCY 
  1.18                DISPATCHERS RETIREMENT PLAN CREATION 
  1.19     Section 1.  [353G.01] [POSTSENTENCING OFFICERS AND 
  1.20  EMERGENCY DISPATCHERS RETIREMENT PLAN; DEFINITIONS.] 
  1.21     Subdivision 1.  [IN GENERAL.] For purposes of this chapter, 
  1.22  unless the language or the context clearly indicates that a 
  1.23  different meaning is intended, the following terms have the 
  1.24  meanings given them.  
  1.25     Subd. 2.  [ACCUMULATED CONTRIBUTIONS.] "Accumulated 
  1.26  contributions" means the total of member contributions made by 
  1.27  salary deductions or by assessments or payments made in lieu of 
  1.28  salary deductions, if authorized, which are credited by the 
  1.29  retirement plan and entered into the member's individual record. 
  1.30     Subd. 3.  [ACTUARIAL EQUIVALENT.] "Actuarial equivalent" 
  2.1   means the condition of one annuity or benefit having an equal 
  2.2   actuarial present value as another annuity or benefit, 
  2.3   determined as of a given date with each actuarial present value 
  2.4   based on the appropriate mortality table adopted by the board of 
  2.5   trustees based on the experience of that retirement fund 
  2.6   association as recommended by the actuary retained by the 
  2.7   Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement and using the 
  2.8   applicable preretirement or postretirement interest rate 
  2.9   assumption specified in section 356.215, subdivision 8. 
  2.10     Subd. 4.  [ALLOWABLE SERVICE.] "Allowable service" means 
  2.11  any service rendered by a postsentencing officer or an emergency 
  2.12  dispatcher during a period in which the officer or dispatcher 
  2.13  receives salary from a public employer from which member 
  2.14  contribution salary deductions are made to and credited by the 
  2.15  postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers retirement 
  2.16  plan.  
  2.17     Subd. 5.  [ANNUITY.] "Annuity" means the payments made by 
  2.18  the postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers retirement 
  2.19  plan in the form of a retirement annuity or an optional annuity. 
  2.20     Subd. 6.  [APPROVED ACTUARY.] "Approved actuary" means (1) 
  2.21  any actuary who is either a fellow of the Society of Actuaries 
  2.22  or who has at least 15 years of service to major public employee 
  2.23  retirement funds, or (2) any firm which retains such an actuary 
  2.24  on its staff. 
  2.25     Subd. 7.  [AVERAGE SALARY.] "Average salary" means the 
  2.26  average of the highest five successive years of salary in which 
  2.27  the postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher has made 
  2.28  contributions to the retirement fund by payroll deduction.  If 
  2.29  the officer or dispatcher has less than five years of allowable 
  2.30  service, the term means the average of salary for the entire 
  2.31  period of allowable service.  
  2.32     Subd. 8.  [BENEFIT.] "Benefit" means the allowance paid or 
  2.33  payable by the postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers 
  2.34  retirement plan to a surviving spouse, designated beneficiary, 
  2.35  surviving child, or estate, or in periodic payments to a member 
  2.36  or former member of the retirement plan who is permanently and 
  3.1   totally disabled.  
  3.2      Subd. 9.  [BOARD.] "Board" means the Board of Trustees of 
  3.3   the Public Employees Retirement Association.  
  3.4      Subd. 10.  [DEPENDENT CHILD.] "Dependent child" means any 
  3.5   biological or adopted child of a deceased postsentencing officer 
  3.6   or emergency dispatcher who has not reached the age of 20 and is 
  3.7   dependent on the officer or dispatcher for more than one-half of 
  3.8   the child's support at the time of the death of the officer or 
  3.9   dispatcher.  Dependent child also means a child of the officer 
  3.10  or dispatcher conceived during the lifetime of the officer or 
  3.11  dispatcher and born after the death of the officer or the 
  3.12  dispatcher. 
  3.13     Subd. 11.  [DESIGNATED BENEFICIARY.] "Designated 
  3.14  beneficiary" means the person who is designated by an active or 
  3.15  retired postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher to 
  3.16  receive the benefits to which a beneficiary is entitled to 
  3.17  receive under this chapter.  A beneficiary designation is valid 
  3.18  only if it is made on the applicable form prescribed by the 
  3.19  director, is properly completed and signed, and is received by 
  3.20  the Public Employees Retirement Association or is postmarked on 
  3.21  or before the date of the death of the officer or dispatcher.  
  3.22  If no beneficiary is designated or if the designated beneficiary 
  3.23  predeceases the officer or dispatcher, the term means the estate 
  3.24  of the deceased officer or dispatcher. 
  3.25     Subd. 12.  [DIRECTOR OR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.] "Director" or 
  3.26  "executive director" means the executive director of the Public 
  3.27  Employees Retirement Association.  
  3.28     Subd. 13.  [DISABILITY OR TOTAL AND PERMANENT 
  3.29  DISABILITY.] "Disability" or "total and permanent disability" 
  3.30  means the inability of a postsentencing officer or emergency 
  3.31  dispatcher to engage in any substantial gainful employment 
  3.32  activity by reason of a medically determinable physical or 
  3.33  mental impairment which is reasonably expected to be of a 
  3.34  long-continued and indefinite duration, which in no event may be 
  3.35  less than one year.  
  3.36     Subd. 14.  [DISPATCHER.] "Dispatcher" means an emergency 
  4.1   dispatcher.  
  4.2      Subd. 15.  [EMERGENCY DISPATCHER.] "Emergency dispatcher" 
  4.3   means a governmental employee who is employed at a primary 
  4.4   public safety answering point, whose primary employment 
  4.5   responsibility is receiving emergency "911" telephone 
  4.6   communications from the public which require subsequent contact 
  4.7   with and response by police, fire, or medical resources, and who 
  4.8   is certified by the governmental employer as regularly and 
  4.9   consistently spending at least a majority of the person's 
  4.10  employment time in those duties.  
  4.11     Subd. 16.  [MEMBER.] "Member" means a postsentencing 
  4.12  officer or an emergency dispatcher who makes regular member 
  4.13  contributions to the retirement plan in that capacity. 
  4.14     Subd. 17.  [NORMAL RETIREMENT AGE.] "Normal retirement age" 
  4.15  means age 55. 
  4.16     Subd. 18.  [NORMAL RETIREMENT ANNUITY.] "Normal retirement 
  4.17  annuity" means a retirement annuity computed under section 
  4.18  353G.07, subdivision 2, that is paid or is payable to a member 
  4.19  upon meeting the age and service requirements specified in 
  4.20  section 353G.07, subdivision 1.  
  4.21     Subd. 19.  [OFFICER.] "Officer" means a postsentencing 
  4.22  officer. 
  4.23     Subd. 20.  [OPTIONAL ANNUITY FORM.] "Optional annuity form" 
  4.24  means an alternate means for the receipt of an annuity 
  4.25  established by the board under section 353G.07, subdivision 5.  
  4.26     Subd. 21.  [POSTSENTENCING OFFICER.] "Postsentencing 
  4.27  officer" means a governmental employee who is responsible for 
  4.28  the control, supervision, and care of convicted offenders on 
  4.29  probation in lieu of imprisonment or of offenders conditionally 
  4.30  released on parole after imprisonment and who is certified by 
  4.31  the governmental employer as regularly and consistently spending 
  4.32  at least a majority of the person's employment time in the 
  4.33  direct control, supervision, and care of convicted offenders who 
  4.34  represent a risk of violence or physical harm to the employee.  
  4.35     Subd. 22.  [PRIMARY PUBLIC SAFETY ANSWERING 
  4.36  POINT.] "Primary public safety answering point" is a 
  5.1   communications facility that is operated by a governmental 
  5.2   entity and that is operated on a 24-hour basis to be the initial 
  5.3   emergency "911" telephone communications from persons in a 911 
  5.4   service area and that is authorized, as appropriate, to directly 
  5.5   dispatch public safety services or to extend, transfer, or relay 
  5.6   the communications to the appropriate public safety agency.  
  5.7      Subd. 23.  [REDUCED RETIREMENT ANNUITY.] "Reduced 
  5.8   retirement annuity" means an annuity paid between age 50 and age 
  5.9   55 under section 353G.07, subdivision 3.  
  5.10     Subd. 24.  [RETIREMENT.] "Retirement" means the time after 
  5.11  the date of cessation of active service by a postsentencing 
  5.12  officer or emergency dispatcher who is thereafter entitled to an 
  5.13  accrued retirement annuity which is payable under an application 
  5.14  filed by the former officer or dispatcher.  The provisions of 
  5.15  law in effect on the date that the officer or dispatcher ceases 
  5.16  rendering active service in that capacity thereafter determines 
  5.17  the rights of the person with respect to the plan.  
  5.18     Subd. 25.  [RETIREMENT ANNUITY.] "Retirement annuity" means 
  5.19  an annuity computed under section 353G.07 and paid by the 
  5.20  director to the retired postsentencing officer or emergency 
  5.21  dispatcher or to the specified remainder recipient under an 
  5.22  optional annuity form. 
  5.23     Subd. 26.  [SALARY OR COVERED SALARY.] (a) "Salary" or 
  5.24  "covered salary" means:  
  5.25     (1) the wages paid to a postsentencing officer or an 
  5.26  emergency dispatcher before deductions for deferred 
  5.27  compensation, supplemental retirement plans, or other voluntary 
  5.28  salary reductions; 
  5.29     (2) other periodic compensation, paid to an officer or 
  5.30  dispatcher before deductions for deferred compensation, 
  5.31  supplemental retirement plans, or other voluntary salary 
  5.32  reductions; and 
  5.33     (3) during a period of receipt of worker's compensation 
  5.34  while on a leave of absence, the differential between the salary 
  5.35  that the officer or dispatcher would normally receive during the 
  5.36  leave and the salary received, if any, on which the officer or 
  6.1   dispatcher makes a member contribution equivalent amount.  
  6.2      (b) "Salary" or "covered salary" does not mean:  
  6.3      (1) lump sum sick leave payments; 
  6.4      (2) severance payments; 
  6.5      (3) lump sum annual leave payments; 
  6.6      (4) overtime payments made at the time of separation from 
  6.7   state service; 
  6.8      (5) payments in lieu of employer-paid group insurance 
  6.9   coverage, including the difference between single rates and 
  6.10  family rates for an officer or dispatcher with single coverage; 
  6.11     (6) employer contributions to a deferred compensation or 
  6.12  tax-sheltered annuity program; and 
  6.13     (7) amounts contributed under a benevolent vacation or sick 
  6.14  leave donation program.  
  6.15     Subd. 27.  [SPOUSE.] "Spouse" means the person who was 
  6.16  legally married to the postsentencing officer or the emergency 
  6.17  dispatcher immediately prior to the death of the officer or 
  6.18  dispatcher.  
  6.19     Sec. 2.  [353G.02] [RETIREMENT PLAN AND FUND.] 
  6.20     Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] The postsentencing 
  6.21  officers and emergency dispatchers retirement plan is 
  6.22  established.  
  6.23     Subd. 2.  [FUND.] (a) A postsentencing officers and 
  6.24  emergency dispatchers retirement fund is established within the 
  6.25  state treasury. 
  6.26     (b) Member contributions under section 353G.05, subdivision 
  6.27  1, employer contributions under section 353G.05, subdivision 2, 
  6.28  and revenue derived from the investment of fund assets must be 
  6.29  deposited in the postsentencing officers and emergency 
  6.30  dispatchers retirement fund.  
  6.31     (c) Refunds of member contributions under section 353G.05, 
  6.32  retirement annuities under section 353G.07, disability benefits 
  6.33  under section 353G.09, survivorship benefits under section 
  6.34  353G.10, and necessary and reasonable expenses of administering 
  6.35  the plan and fund are payable from the postsentencing officers 
  6.36  and emergency dispatchers retirement fund. 
  7.1      Subd. 3.  [AUDIT.] The legislative auditor shall audit the 
  7.2   plan and fund.  
  7.3      Sec. 3.  [353G.03] [ADMINISTRATION.] 
  7.4      The postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers 
  7.5   retirement plan and fund must be administered by the Board of 
  7.6   Trustees and the executive director of the Public Employees 
  7.7   Retirement Association.  Fiduciary activities regarding the plan 
  7.8   and the fund must be undertaken in a manner consistent with 
  7.9   chapter 356A.  
  7.10     Sec. 4.  [353G.04] [INVESTMENTS; PARTICIPATION IN THE 
  7.11  POSTRETIREMENT INVESTMENT FUND.] 
  7.12     Subdivision 1.  [INVESTMENTS.] The State Board of 
  7.13  Investment shall invest and reinvest the postsentencing officers 
  7.14  and emergency dispatchers retirement fund under chapters 11A and 
  7.15  356A.  
  7.16     Subd. 2.  [TREASURER.] The commissioner of finance is the 
  7.17  ex officio treasurer of the postsentencing officers and 
  7.18  emergency dispatchers retirement fund.  The treasurer shall 
  7.19  provide the executive director of the Public Employees 
  7.20  Retirement Association with a detailed statement of revenues and 
  7.21  disbursements. 
  7.22     Subd. 3.  [POSTRETIREMENT INVESTMENT FUND.] (a) The 
  7.23  postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers retirement 
  7.24  plan must participate in the Minnesota postretirement investment 
  7.25  fund.  Assets representing the retirement annuities payable by 
  7.26  the plan must be deposited in the investment fund and necessary 
  7.27  amounts must be withdrawn to pay annuity amounts due and 
  7.28  payable.  The amounts necessary are annually appropriated for 
  7.29  this purpose.  
  7.30     (b) For former plan members beginning the receipt of 
  7.31  annuities, the required reserves must be determined in 
  7.32  accordance with the appropriate mortality table based on the 
  7.33  experience of the plan as recommended by the actuary retained by 
  7.34  the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement and 
  7.35  approved by the commission under section 356.215 and using the 
  7.36  applicable postretirement interest rate assumption specified in 
  8.1   section 356.215, subdivision 8.  Assets representing the 
  8.2   required reserves for those annuities must be transferred to the 
  8.3   Minnesota postretirement investment fund as of the last business 
  8.4   day of the month in which the retirement annuity begins as 
  8.5   specified in section 11A.18. 
  8.6      Sec. 5.  [353G.05] [CONTRIBUTION RATES.] 
  8.7      Subdivision 1.  [MEMBER CONTRIBUTION; SALARY 
  8.8   DEDUCTION.] (a) A member of the postsentencing officers and 
  8.9   emergency dispatchers retirement plan shall pay an amount equal 
  8.10  to ... percent of the salary of the member, which constitutes 
  8.11  the member contribution to the fund.  
  8.12     (b) Member contribution amounts must be deducted from the 
  8.13  salary payable to the member each pay period by the department 
  8.14  head.  The employing agency shall have the deduction paid to the 
  8.15  fund treasurer for deposit into the postsentencing officers and 
  8.16  emergency dispatchers retirement fund and shall make a detailed 
  8.17  report of deductions made each pay period to the executive 
  8.18  director of the Public Employees Retirement Association. 
  8.19     Subd. 2.  [EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION.] The employer of a member 
  8.20  of the postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers 
  8.21  retirement plan shall pay an amount equal to ... percent of the 
  8.22  salary of the member, which constitutes the employer 
  8.23  contribution to the fund. 
  8.24     Subd. 3.  [OMITTED DEDUCTIONS.] (a) If the employer fails 
  8.25  to take deductions which are past due for a period of less than 
  8.26  61 days, those deductions must be taken from a later member 
  8.27  salary payment. 
  8.28     (b) If the employer fails to take deductions which are past 
  8.29  due for a period longer than 60 days or if the plan member is no 
  8.30  longer employed in covered employment, the employer must pay the 
  8.31  amount of the omitted deduction, the amount of any unpaid 
  8.32  employer contribution, plus an amount equal to 8.5 percent of 
  8.33  the total amount due if the failure to make a payment is of less 
  8.34  than one year in duration and plus annual compound interest at 
  8.35  the rate of 8.5 percent per annum if the failure to make a 
  8.36  payment is a period of 12 months or greater.  
  9.1      Sec. 6.  [353G.06] [PLAN MEMBERSHIP; SOCIAL SECURITY 
  9.2   COVERAGE.] 
  9.3      (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), a postsentencing 
  9.4   officer or an emergency dispatcher, by accepting employment in 
  9.5   that capacity or by continuing employment in that capacity, 
  9.6   accepts coverage by the postsentencing officers and emergency 
  9.7   dispatchers retirement plan in lieu of any other Minnesota 
  9.8   public pension plan coverage.  
  9.9      (b) A person who was employed in a postsentencing officer 
  9.10  position or in an emergency dispatcher position on July 1, 2005, 
  9.11  and who is at least 45 years of age on that date, may make a 
  9.12  onetime election to retain the person's existing retirement 
  9.13  coverage and to decline a transfer to coverage by the 
  9.14  postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers retirement 
  9.15  plan.  The election must be made in writing on a form prescribed 
  9.16  by the executive director and is irrevocable.  
  9.17     (c) Members of the postsentencing officers and emergency 
  9.18  dispatchers retirement plan must be covered by the federal old 
  9.19  age, survivors, disability and health insurance program under 
  9.20  chapter 355 by virtue of employment covered by the plan.  
  9.21     Sec. 7.  [353G.07] [RETIREMENT ANNUITY.] 
  9.22     Subdivision 1.  [ELIGIBILITY.] (a) After terminating 
  9.23  employment, a former postsentencing officer or a former 
  9.24  emergency dispatcher who has attained the age of 55 years and 
  9.25  who has credit for three years of allowable service under 
  9.26  section 353G.01, subdivision 4, is entitled, upon application, 
  9.27  to a normal retirement annuity. 
  9.28     (b) In lieu of a normal retirement annuity, a retiring 
  9.29  former postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher may elect 
  9.30  to receive an optional annuity form under subdivision 5. 
  9.31     Subd. 2.  [ANNUITY AMOUNT.] The retirement annuity amount 
  9.32  is the average salary under section 353G.01, subdivision 4, of 
  9.33  the retiring postsentencing officer or the retiring emergency 
  9.34  dispatcher multiplied by the percentage amount specified in 
  9.35  section 356.315, subdivision 5b, for each year of allowable 
  9.36  service of the person and the appropriate fractional amount for 
 10.1   the number of months of allowable service less than a full year. 
 10.2      Subd. 3.  [EARLY RETIREMENT.] A former postsentencing 
 10.3   officer or a former emergency dispatcher who has attained the 
 10.4   age of at least 50 years and has credit for not less than three 
 10.5   years of allowable service credit under section 353G.01, 
 10.6   subdivision 4, is entitled, upon application, to a reduced 
 10.7   retirement annuity.  The reduced retirement annuity is an amount 
 10.8   equal to the annuity calculated under subdivision 2 reduced so 
 10.9   that the subsequent reduced annuity is the actuarial equivalent 
 10.10  at that age of the annuity that would be payable if the person 
 10.11  deferred receipt of the annuity from the day that the annuity 
 10.12  begins to accrue until age 55.  
 10.13     Subd. 4.  [ACCRUAL AND DURATION.] The retirement annuity 
 10.14  under this section accrues on the first day of the first 
 10.15  calendar month after the date on which the former postsentencing 
 10.16  officer or the former emergency dispatcher terminates covered 
 10.17  service.  The annuity must be paid in equal monthly installments 
 10.18  each year and does not accrue beyond the end of the month in 
 10.19  which entitlement to the annuity ends or is terminated.  If the 
 10.20  annuitant dies prior to negotiating the check for the month in 
 10.21  which the annuitant's death occurs, payment must be made to the 
 10.22  person's surviving spouse, or if none, to the designated 
 10.23  beneficiary of the person, or if none, to the estate of the 
 10.24  person.  The retirement annuity is payable for the life of the 
 10.25  recipient or in accord with the terms of any optional annuity 
 10.26  form that was selected by the retiring plan member.  
 10.27     Subd. 5.  [OPTIONAL ANNUITY FORMS.] (a) The board of 
 10.28  trustees shall establish optional annuity forms, including a 
 10.29  joint and survivor annuity.  Except as provided in paragraph 
 10.30  (b), the optional annuity forms must be the actuarial equivalent 
 10.31  to the normal retirement annuity, the early reduced retirement 
 10.32  annuity, or the disability benefit, whichever applies.  In 
 10.33  establishing the optional annuity forms, the board shall obtain 
 10.34  the written recommendation of the consulting actuary retained by 
 10.35  the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement and must 
 10.36  retain those recommendations as part of the permanent records of 
 11.1   the board.  A retiring plan member may select an optional 
 11.2   annuity form in lieu of any other available annuity or benefit 
 11.3   form.  
 11.4      (b) If a retiring plan member or a disabilitant selects a 
 11.5   joint and survivor optional annuity form under paragraph (a), 
 11.6   the retiring plan member or disabilitant must receive a normal 
 11.7   single life annuity if the designated optional annuity 
 11.8   beneficiary dies before the primary annuity receipt.  No 
 11.9   reduction under this option may be made in the person's annuity 
 11.10  to provide for the restoration of the normal single life annuity 
 11.11  in the event of the death of the designated optional annuity 
 11.12  beneficiary. 
 11.13     Sec. 8.  [353G.08] [AUGMENTATION OF CERTAIN ANNUITIES.] 
 11.14     (a) Unless a combined service annuity under section 356.30 
 11.15  has been elected, a person who becomes a member of this plan 
 11.16  after having been a member of the general employees retirement 
 11.17  plan of the Public Employees Retirement Association, of the 
 11.18  public employees police and fire retirement plan, of the local 
 11.19  government correctional service retirement plan of the Public 
 11.20  Employees Retirement Association, of the general state employees 
 11.21  retirement plan of the Minnesota State Retirement System, or of 
 11.22  the correctional state employees retirement plan of the 
 11.23  Minnesota State Retirement System is covered under section 
 11.24  352.72, subdivision 2, or 353.71, subdivision 2, whichever 
 11.25  applies, with respect to that prior service. 
 11.26     (b) A person who becomes a member of one of the retirement 
 11.27  plans cited in paragraph (a) after having been a member of this 
 11.28  plan is also covered under section 352.72, subdivision 2, or 
 11.29  353.71, subdivision 2, whichever applies, with respect to that 
 11.30  prior service, unless the annuity is calculated under section 
 11.31  356.30.  
 11.32     Sec. 9.  [353G.09] [DISABILITY BENEFITS.] 
 11.33     Subdivision 1.  [AGE AND SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.] A 
 11.34  postsentencing officer or an emergency dispatcher who is covered 
 11.35  by the plan, who is less than normal retirement age, and who 
 11.36  becomes totally and permanently disabled after rendering three 
 12.1   or more years of allowable service is entitled to a disability 
 12.2   benefit in an amount provided in subdivision 3.  If the disabled 
 12.3   officer or dispatcher's allowable service has terminated at any 
 12.4   time, the officer or dispatcher must have rendered at least two 
 12.5   years of allowable service after last becoming an officer or 
 12.6   dispatcher covered by the plan.  Refunds may be repaid under 
 12.7   section 11 before the effective accrual date of the disability 
 12.8   benefit under subdivision 2.  
 12.9      Subd. 2.  [APPLICATION; ACCRUAL OF BENEFITS.] A 
 12.10  postsentencing officer or an emergency dispatcher making claim 
 12.11  for a total and permanent disability benefit, or someone acting 
 12.12  on behalf of the officer or dispatcher upon proof of authority 
 12.13  satisfactory to the executive director of the Public Employees 
 12.14  Retirement Association, shall file a written application for 
 12.15  benefits in the office of the Public Employees Retirement 
 12.16  Association.  The application must be in a form and manner 
 12.17  prescribed by the executive director of the Public Employees 
 12.18  Retirement Association.  The benefit begins to accrue on the day 
 12.19  following the start of disability or on the day following the 
 12.20  last day paid, whichever is later, but not earlier than 180 days 
 12.21  before the date the application is filed with the director. 
 12.22     Subd. 3.  [COMPUTATION OF BENEFITS.] The total and 
 12.23  permanent disability benefit must be computed in the manner 
 12.24  provided in section 353G.06.  The disability benefit is an 
 12.25  amount equal to the normal annuity without reduction for each 
 12.26  month the postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher is 
 12.27  under the normal retirement age at the time of becoming 
 12.28  disabled.  A disabled officer or dispatcher may choose to 
 12.29  receive the normal disability benefit or an optional annuity as 
 12.30  provided in section 353G.07, subdivision 5.  This choice must be 
 12.31  made before the start of payment of the disability benefit and 
 12.32  is effective on the date on which the disability begins to 
 12.33  accrue as provided in subdivision 2.  
 12.34     Subd. 4.  [MEDICAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINATIONS; 
 12.35  AUTHORIZATION FOR PAYMENT OF BENEFIT.] (a) An applicant shall 
 12.36  provide medical or psychological evidence to support an 
 13.1   application for total and permanent disability.  The executive 
 13.2   director of the Public Employees Retirement Association shall 
 13.3   have the postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher examined 
 13.4   by at least one additional licensed chiropractor, physician, or 
 13.5   psychologist designated by the medical adviser.  The examining 
 13.6   chiropractors, physicians, or psychologists shall make written 
 13.7   reports to the director concerning the officer or dispatcher's 
 13.8   disability, including medical opinions as to whether the officer 
 13.9   or dispatcher is permanently and totally disabled within the 
 13.10  meaning of section 353G.01, subdivision 13.  
 13.11     (b) The director shall also obtain written certification 
 13.12  from the employer stating whether the employment has ceased or 
 13.13  whether the officer or dispatcher is on a leave of absence 
 13.14  because of a disability that will prevent further service to the 
 13.15  employer, and as a consequence the officer or dispatcher is not 
 13.16  entitled to compensation from the employer.  
 13.17     (c) The medical adviser shall consider the reports of the 
 13.18  physicians, psychologists, and chiropractors, and any other 
 13.19  evidence supplied by the officer or dispatcher or other 
 13.20  interested parties.  If the medical adviser finds the officer or 
 13.21  dispatcher totally and permanently disabled, the adviser shall 
 13.22  make the appropriate recommendation to the director in writing 
 13.23  together with the date from which the officer or dispatcher has 
 13.24  been totally disabled.  The director shall then determine if the 
 13.25  disability occurred within 180 days of filing the application, 
 13.26  if the disability occurred while still in covered employment, 
 13.27  and the propriety of authorizing payment of a disability benefit 
 13.28  as provided in this section.  A terminated officer or dispatcher 
 13.29  may apply for a disability benefit within 180 days of the 
 13.30  termination of covered employment as long as the disability 
 13.31  occurred while in covered employment.  The fact that the officer 
 13.32  or dispatcher is placed on a leave of absence without 
 13.33  compensation because of disability does not bar that officer or 
 13.34  dispatcher from receiving a disability benefit.  
 13.35     Subd. 5.  [DISABILITY BENEFIT TERMINATION.] Unless payment 
 13.36  of a disability benefit has terminated because the 
 14.1   postsentencing officer or the emergency dispatcher is no longer 
 14.2   totally disabled, or because the officer or dispatcher has 
 14.3   reached normal retirement age as provided in this section, the 
 14.4   disability benefit must cease with the last payment which was 
 14.5   received by the disabilitant or which had accrued during the 
 14.6   lifetime of the disabilitant unless there is a surviving spouse. 
 14.7   If there is a surviving spouse, the surviving spouse is entitled 
 14.8   to the disability benefit payment for the calendar month in 
 14.9   which the disabilitant died. 
 14.10     Subd. 6.  [REGULAR MEDICAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINATIONS.] 
 14.11  At least once each year during the first five years following 
 14.12  the allowance of a disability benefit to any postsentencing 
 14.13  officer or emergency dispatcher, and at least once in every 
 14.14  three-year period thereafter, the executive director of the 
 14.15  Public Employees Retirement Association may require the 
 14.16  disability benefit recipient to undergo a medical or 
 14.17  psychological examination.  The examination must be made at the 
 14.18  place of residence of the disabilitant, or at any place mutually 
 14.19  agreed upon by the disabilitant and the director, and must be 
 14.20  made by a physician or physicians designated by the medical 
 14.21  adviser and engaged by the director.  If any examination 
 14.22  indicates to the medical adviser that the disability benefit 
 14.23  recipient is no longer permanently and totally disabled, or is 
 14.24  engaged in or can engage in a gainful occupation, payments of 
 14.25  the disability benefit by the plan must be discontinued.  The 
 14.26  payments must discontinue as soon as the officer or dispatcher 
 14.27  is reinstated to the payroll following the sick leave, but in no 
 14.28  case may the payment be made for more than 60 days after the 
 14.29  medical adviser finds that the officer or dispatcher is no 
 14.30  longer permanently and totally disabled. 
 14.31     Subd. 7.  [PARTIAL REEMPLOYMENT.] If the disabilitant 
 14.32  resumes a gainful occupation from which earnings are less than 
 14.33  the salary of the postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher 
 14.34  at the date of disability or the salary currently paid for 
 14.35  similar positions, the director shall continue the disability 
 14.36  benefit in an amount which, when added to earnings, does not 
 15.1   exceed the salary at the date of disability, provided that the 
 15.2   disability benefit in this case does not exceed the disability 
 15.3   benefit originally allowed.  Deductions for the retirement fund 
 15.4   must not be taken from the salary of a disabilitant who is 
 15.5   receiving a disability benefit as provided in this subdivision. 
 15.6      Subd. 8.  [REFUSAL OF EXAMINATION.] If a disability benefit 
 15.7   recipient refuses to submit to a medical examination as 
 15.8   required, disability benefit payments must be discontinued and 
 15.9   the director shall revoke all rights of the postsentencing 
 15.10  officer or emergency dispatcher to any disability benefit. 
 15.11     Subd. 9.  [RETURN TO STATE SERVICE.] Any disability benefit 
 15.12  recipient who is restored to active service, except 
 15.13  postsentencing officers or emergency dispatchers receiving 
 15.14  benefits as provided in subdivision 7, must have deductions 
 15.15  taken for the retirement fund and, upon retirement, have the 
 15.16  payable retirement annuity based upon all allowable service, 
 15.17  including that allowable service upon which the disability 
 15.18  benefits were based.  No postsentencing officer or emergency 
 15.19  dispatcher is entitled to receive disability benefits and a 
 15.20  retirement annuity at the same time. 
 15.21     Subd. 10.  [DISABILITANT AGAIN DISABLED AFTER RESUMING 
 15.22  EMPLOYMENT.] If a disabled benefit recipient resumes gainful 
 15.23  employment and is not entitled to continued payment of a 
 15.24  disability benefit as provided in subdivision 7, the right to a 
 15.25  disability benefit ends when the postsentencing officer or 
 15.26  emergency dispatcher has been employed for one year thereafter.  
 15.27  If the officer or dispatcher again becomes totally and 
 15.28  permanently disabled before reaching the normal retirement age, 
 15.29  an application for a disability benefit may again be made.  If 
 15.30  the officer or dispatcher is entitled to a disability benefit, 
 15.31  it must be computed as provided in subdivision 9. 
 15.32     Subd. 11.  [RECOMPUTATION OF BENEFIT.] If a disabled 
 15.33  postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher who has resumed 
 15.34  employment as provided in subdivision 10 is reemployed for more 
 15.35  than three months, but cannot continue employment for one year, 
 15.36  the disability benefit must be recomputed allowing additional 
 16.1   service credit for the period of reemployment.  If the period of 
 16.2   reemployment does not exceed three months, the deductions taken 
 16.3   from salary after resuming employment must be returned to the 
 16.4   officer or dispatcher.  The officer or dispatcher is not 
 16.5   entitled to service credit for the period covered by the 
 16.6   returned deductions. 
 16.7      Subd. 12.  [RETIREMENT STATUS AT NORMAL RETIREMENT AGE.] 
 16.8   The disability benefit paid to a disability benefit recipient 
 16.9   under this section ends when the postsentencing officer or 
 16.10  emergency dispatcher reaches normal retirement age.  If the 
 16.11  disabled officer or dispatcher is still totally and permanently 
 16.12  disabled when the officer or dispatcher reaches normal 
 16.13  retirement age, the officer or dispatcher must be considered to 
 16.14  be a retired member.  If the officer or dispatcher had chosen an 
 16.15  optional annuity under subdivision 3, the officer or dispatcher 
 16.16  must receive an annuity in accordance with the terms of the 
 16.17  optional annuity previously chosen.  If the officer or 
 16.18  dispatcher had not chosen an optional annuity under subdivision 
 16.19  3, the officer or dispatcher may then choose to receive either a 
 16.20  normal retirement annuity equal in amount to the disability 
 16.21  benefit paid before the person reached normal retirement age or 
 16.22  an optional annuity as provided in section 353G.06, subdivision 
 16.23  5.  The choice of an optional annuity must be made before 
 16.24  reaching normal retirement age.  If an optional annuity is 
 16.25  chosen, the choice is effective on the date on which the person 
 16.26  attains normal retirement age and the optional annuity must 
 16.27  begin to accrue the first of the month next following the month 
 16.28  in which the person attains this age. 
 16.29     Sec. 10.  [353G.10] [DEATH AND SURVIVORSHIP BENEFITS.] 
 16.30     Subdivision 1.  [DEATH BEFORE TERMINATION OF SERVICE.] If a 
 16.31  postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher dies before 
 16.32  active employment has terminated and neither a survivor annuity 
 16.33  nor a reversionary annuity is payable, or if a former 
 16.34  postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher who has 
 16.35  sufficient service credit to be entitled to an annuity dies 
 16.36  before the benefit has become payable, the executive director of 
 17.1   the Public Employees Retirement Association shall make a refund 
 17.2   to the last designated beneficiary or, if there is none, to the 
 17.3   surviving spouse or, if none, to the officer or dispatcher's 
 17.4   surviving children in equal shares or, if none, to the officer 
 17.5   or dispatcher's surviving parents in equal shares or, if none, 
 17.6   to the representative of the estate in an amount equal to the 
 17.7   accumulated member contributions, plus interest at the rate of 
 17.8   six percent per annum compounded annually.  Interest must be 
 17.9   computed to the first day of the month in which the refund is 
 17.10  processed.  Upon the death of an officer or dispatcher who has 
 17.11  received a refund that was later repaid in full, interest must 
 17.12  be paid on the repaid refund only from the date of repayment.  
 17.13  If the repayment was made in installments, interest must be paid 
 17.14  only from the date installment payments began.  The designated 
 17.15  beneficiary, surviving spouse, or representative of the estate 
 17.16  of an officer or dispatcher who had received a disability 
 17.17  benefit is not entitled to interest upon any balance remaining 
 17.18  to the decedent's credit in the fund at the time of death, 
 17.19  unless the death occurred before any payment could be negotiated.
 17.20     Subd. 2.  [SURVIVING SPOUSE BENEFIT.] (a) If a 
 17.21  postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher or former officer 
 17.22  or dispatcher has credit for at least three years allowable 
 17.23  service and dies before an annuity or disability benefit has 
 17.24  become payable, notwithstanding any designation of beneficiary 
 17.25  to the contrary, the surviving spouse of the officer or 
 17.26  dispatcher may elect to receive, in lieu of the refund with 
 17.27  interest under subdivision 1, an annuity equal to the joint and 
 17.28  100 percent survivor annuity which the officer or dispatcher or 
 17.29  former officer or dispatcher could have qualified for on the 
 17.30  date of death. 
 17.31     (b) If the officer or dispatcher was under age 55 and has 
 17.32  credit for at least 30 years of allowable service on the date of 
 17.33  death, the surviving spouse may elect to receive a 100 percent 
 17.34  joint and survivor annuity based on the age of the officer or 
 17.35  dispatcher and surviving spouse on the date of death.  The 
 17.36  annuity is payable using the full early retirement reduction 
 18.1   under section 353G.06, subdivision 3, to age 55 and one-half of 
 18.2   the early retirement reduction from age 55 to the age at which 
 18.3   payment begins. 
 18.4      (c) If the officer or dispatcher was under age 55 and has 
 18.5   credit for at least three years of allowable service credit on 
 18.6   the date of death but did not yet qualify for retirement, the 
 18.7   surviving spouse may elect to receive a 100 percent joint and 
 18.8   survivor annuity based on the age of the person and surviving 
 18.9   spouse at the time of death.  The annuity is payable using the 
 18.10  full early retirement reduction under section 353G.06, 
 18.11  subdivision 3, to age 55 and one-half of the early retirement 
 18.12  reduction from age 55 to the age payment begins.  
 18.13     (d) The surviving spouse eligible for benefits under 
 18.14  paragraph (a) may apply for the annuity at any time after the 
 18.15  date on which the officer or dispatcher or former officer or 
 18.16  dispatcher would have attained the required age for retirement 
 18.17  based on the allowable service earned.  The surviving spouse 
 18.18  eligible for surviving spouse benefits under paragraph (b) or 
 18.19  (c) may apply for the annuity at any time after the officer or 
 18.20  dispatcher's death.  The annuity must be computed under section 
 18.21  353G.06.  Section 353G.07 applies to a deferred annuity or 
 18.22  surviving spouse benefit payable under this subdivision.  The 
 18.23  annuity must cease with the last payment received by the 
 18.24  surviving spouse in the lifetime of the surviving spouse, or 
 18.25  upon expiration of a term certain benefit payment to a surviving 
 18.26  spouse under subdivision 2a.  An amount equal to the excess, if 
 18.27  any, of the accumulated contributions credited to the account of 
 18.28  the deceased officer or dispatcher in excess of the total of the 
 18.29  benefits paid and payable to the surviving spouse must be paid 
 18.30  to the last designated beneficiary of the officer or the 
 18.31  dispatcher or of the former officer or former dispatcher or, if 
 18.32  none, as specified under subdivision 1. 
 18.33     (e) An officer or former officer or a dispatcher or former 
 18.34  dispatcher may request in writing that this subdivision not 
 18.35  apply and that payment be made only to a designated beneficiary 
 18.36  as otherwise provided by this chapter. 
 19.1      Subd. 2a.  [SURVIVING SPOUSE COVERAGE TERM CERTAIN.] (a) In 
 19.2   lieu of the 100 percent optional annuity under subdivision 2, or 
 19.3   refund under subdivision 1, the surviving spouse of a deceased 
 19.4   officer or dispatcher or former officer or dispatcher may elect 
 19.5   to receive survivor coverage in a term certain of five, ten, 15, 
 19.6   or 20 years, but monthly payments must not exceed 75 percent of 
 19.7   the average high-five monthly salary of the decedent.  The 
 19.8   monthly term certain annuity must be actuarially equivalent to 
 19.9   the 100 percent optional annuity under subdivision 2. 
 19.10     (b) If a survivor elects a term certain annuity and dies 
 19.11  before the expiration of the specified term certain period, the 
 19.12  commuted value of the remaining annuity payments must be paid in 
 19.13  a lump sum to the survivor's estate. 
 19.14     Subd. 2b.  [DEPENDENT CHILD SURVIVOR COVERAGE.] If there is 
 19.15  no surviving spouse eligible for benefits under subdivision 2, a 
 19.16  dependent child or children as defined in section 353G.01, 
 19.17  subdivision 10, are eligible for monthly payments.  Payments to 
 19.18  a dependent child must be paid from the date of the 
 19.19  postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher's death to the 
 19.20  date on which the dependent child attains the age of 20 if the 
 19.21  child is under age 15 on the date of death.  If the child is 15 
 19.22  years or older on the date of death, payment must be made for 
 19.23  five years.  The payment to a dependent child is an amount 
 19.24  actuarially equivalent to the value of a 100 percent optional 
 19.25  annuity under subdivision 2 using the age of the officer or 
 19.26  dispatcher and the age of the dependent child at the date of 
 19.27  death in lieu of the age of the surviving spouse.  If there is 
 19.28  more than one dependent child, each dependent child shall be 
 19.29  entitled to receive a proportionate share of the actuarial value 
 19.30  of the account of the officer or dispatcher.  
 19.31     Subd. 3.  [REFUND OF $3,000 OR LESS.] If a postsentencing 
 19.32  officer or emergency dispatcher or a former officer or 
 19.33  dispatcher dies without having designated a beneficiary, or if 
 19.34  the beneficiary dies before applying for a refund of the sum to 
 19.35  the credit of the deceased officer or dispatcher or former 
 19.36  officer or dispatcher, and there is no surviving spouse, and the 
 20.1   amount of the refund does not exceed $3,000, exclusive of 
 20.2   interest, the executive director of the Public Employees 
 20.3   Retirement Association may refund the amount to the deceased 
 20.4   person's next of kin.  The amount may be refunded 90 days after 
 20.5   the date of death of the person in the absence of probate 
 20.6   proceedings, and upon proper application.  The next of kin must 
 20.7   be determined by the director with the concurrence of the board 
 20.8   and is entitled to the refund consistent with the laws of 
 20.9   descent.  A determination and payment without notice are 
 20.10  conclusive and final and are a bar against claims of all other 
 20.11  persons.  
 20.12     Subd. 4.  [REFUND TO MINOR BENEFICIARY.] If a 
 20.13  postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher or former officer 
 20.14  or dispatcher dies having named as a beneficiary a person who is 
 20.15  a minor at the time of the application for refund, and the 
 20.16  amount of the refund does not exceed $3,000, exclusive of 
 20.17  interest, the executive director of the Public Employees 
 20.18  Retirement Association in the absence of guardianship or probate 
 20.19  proceedings may make payment to the natural guardian having 
 20.20  custody of the minor beneficiary, for the benefit of the child.  
 20.21  Any annuity, retirement allowance, or disability benefit accrued 
 20.22  at the time of death of a disabled or retired person, payable to 
 20.23  a minor beneficiary, may similarly be paid.  Payment is a bar to 
 20.24  a recovery by any other person or persons.  
 20.25     Subd. 5.  [RECOVERY BAR.] A determination and a payment 
 20.26  under subdivision 3 or a payment under subdivision 4 is a bar to 
 20.27  a recovery by any other person, whether the person had notice or 
 20.28  otherwise.  
 20.29     Subd. 6.  [DEATH AFTER SERVICE TERMINATION.] Except as 
 20.30  provided in subdivision 1, if a former postsentencing officer or 
 20.31  emergency dispatcher covered by the plan dies and has not 
 20.32  received an annuity or a disability benefit, a refund must be 
 20.33  made to the last designated beneficiary or, if there is none, to 
 20.34  the surviving spouse or, if none, to the person's surviving 
 20.35  children in equal shares or, if none, to the person's surviving 
 20.36  parents in equal shares or, if none, to the representative of 
 21.1   the estate in an amount equal to accumulated member 
 21.2   contributions.  The refund must include interest at the rate of 
 21.3   six percent per year compounded annually.  The interest must be 
 21.4   computed as provided in section 352.22, subdivision 2. 
 21.5      Subd. 7.  [ABSENCE OF OPTIONAL OR REVERSIONARY ANNUITY.] 
 21.6   Upon the death of a retired postsentencing officer or emergency 
 21.7   dispatcher who selected neither an optional annuity nor a 
 21.8   reversionary annuity, a refund must be paid in an amount equal 
 21.9   to the excess, if any, of the accumulated contributions to the 
 21.10  credit of the former officer or dispatcher immediately before 
 21.11  retirement in excess of the sum of (1) all annuities and 
 21.12  disability benefits that had been received and had accrued in 
 21.13  the lifetime of the decedent, and (2) the annuity or disability 
 21.14  benefit, if not negotiated, payable to the surviving spouse 
 21.15  under section 353G.06, for the calendar month in which the 
 21.16  retired officer or dispatcher died.  The refund must be paid to 
 21.17  the named beneficiary or, if there is none, to the surviving 
 21.18  spouse or, if none, to the person's surviving children in equal 
 21.19  shares or, if none, to the person's surviving parents in equal 
 21.20  shares or, if none, to the representative of the estate. 
 21.21     Subd. 8.  [OPTIONAL OR REVERSIONARY ANNUITY.] If the last 
 21.22  eligible recipient of an optional annuity dies and the total 
 21.23  amounts paid under it are less than the accumulated 
 21.24  contributions to the credit of the retired postsentencing 
 21.25  officer or emergency dispatcher immediately before retirement, 
 21.26  the balance of accumulated contributions must be paid to the 
 21.27  person designated by the retired officer or dispatcher in 
 21.28  writing to receive payment.  If no designation has been made by 
 21.29  the retired officer or dispatcher, the remaining balance of 
 21.30  accumulated contributions must be paid to the surviving children 
 21.31  of the deceased recipient of the optional annuity in equal 
 21.32  shares.  If there are no surviving children, payment must be 
 21.33  made to the deceased recipient's parents or, if none, to the 
 21.34  representative of the deceased recipient's estate.  
 21.35     Subd. 9.  [BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION.] The designation of a 
 21.36  beneficiary or person to receive any accumulated contributions 
 22.1   remaining to the credit of a postsentencing officer or emergency 
 22.2   dispatcher, a former officer or dispatcher, or a retired officer 
 22.3   or dispatcher, at the time of death, as provided in this 
 22.4   section, must be in writing and must be filed with the director 
 22.5   before the death of the officer or dispatcher, former officer or 
 22.6   dispatcher, or retired officer or dispatcher.  
 22.7      Subd. 10.  [DEATH OF BENEFICIARY BEFORE REFUND.] If the 
 22.8   last designated beneficiary or beneficiaries and the surviving 
 22.9   spouse of a deceased officer or dispatcher, former officer or 
 22.10  dispatcher, or retired officer or dispatcher dies before 
 22.11  receiving a refund of the sum to the credit of the deceased 
 22.12  person at the time of death, the refund must be made to the 
 22.13  estate of the deceased person or as provided in subdivision 3 if 
 22.14  the amount of the refund does not exceed $3,000, exclusive of 
 22.15  interest.  
 22.16     Subd. 11.  [DEATH OF DISABILITY ANNUITANT.] If a 
 22.17  postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher who has received 
 22.18  a disability benefit dies, a payment must be made of an amount 
 22.19  equal to the excess, if any, of the accumulated contributions to 
 22.20  the credit of the officer or dispatcher at the time the 
 22.21  disability benefit began to accrue over and above the aggregate 
 22.22  of (1) all disability benefits received and which had accrued 
 22.23  during the person's life, and (2) the benefit for the month in 
 22.24  which the disabled person died, payable, if applicable, to the 
 22.25  surviving spouse under section 353G.08.  The payment must be 
 22.26  paid, upon a written application, to the last designated 
 22.27  beneficiary or, if there is none, to the surviving spouse or, if 
 22.28  none, to the officer or dispatcher's surviving children in equal 
 22.29  shares or, if none, to the officer or dispatcher's surviving 
 22.30  parents in equal shares or, if none, to the representative of 
 22.31  the estate.  
 22.32     Subd. 12.  [REFUND, FAILURE TO REQUEST.] If the last 
 22.33  designated beneficiary, surviving spouse, legal representative, 
 22.34  or next of kin, as determined by the executive director of the 
 22.35  Public Employees Retirement Association, with the concurrence of 
 22.36  the board, fails to claim the refund as provided in this section 
 23.1   (1) within five years from the date of death of a retired 
 23.2   postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher or the disabled 
 23.3   officer or dispatcher, or (2) within five years after the last 
 23.4   deduction was taken from the salary of a deceased officer or 
 23.5   dispatcher or deceased former officer or dispatcher, the 
 23.6   accumulated contributions of the deceased person must be 
 23.7   credited to the retirement fund.  However, if the claim to the 
 23.8   refund is made within ten years after the transfer of 
 23.9   accumulated contributions to the fund or within ten years after 
 23.10  the date of death, whichever is later, and the amount 
 23.11  transferred to the fund is over $25, the sum must be restored to 
 23.12  the account of the deceased person.  The refund must then be 
 23.13  paid, upon a written application, to the surviving spouse or, if 
 23.14  none, to the legal representative of the estate irrespective of 
 23.15  any designation of beneficiary made by the deceased person.  
 23.16     Subd. 13.  [REFUND, BENEFICIARY.] If, upon death, a former 
 23.17  postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher has in possession 
 23.18  a commissioner of finance's warrant which does not exceed 
 23.19  $1,000, covering a refund of accumulated contributions in the 
 23.20  retirement fund, in the absence of probate proceedings the 
 23.21  commissioner of finance's warrant may be returned for 
 23.22  cancellation, and then, upon application made by the last 
 23.23  designated beneficiary of the deceased former officer or 
 23.24  dispatcher, a refund of the accumulated contributions must be 
 23.25  paid, upon a written application, to the last designated 
 23.26  beneficiary.  Payments made under this subdivision are a bar to 
 23.27  recovery by any other person or persons. 
 23.28     Sec. 11.  [353G.11] [EXEMPTION FROM PROCESS AND TAXATION.] 
 23.29     Subdivision 1.  [EXEMPTION; EXCEPTIONS.] None of the money, 
 23.30  annuities, or other benefits mentioned in this chapter is 
 23.31  assignable either in law or in equity or subject to state estate 
 23.32  tax, or to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other 
 23.33  legal process, except as provided in subdivision 2 or section 
 23.34  518.58, 518.581, or 518.6111.  
 23.35     Subd. 2.  [AUTOMATIC DEPOSITS.] The executive director may 
 23.36  remit, through an automatic deposit system, annuity, benefit, or 
 24.1   refund payments only to a financial institution associated with 
 24.2   the National Automated Clearinghouse Association or a comparable 
 24.3   successor organization that is the trustee for a person eligible 
 24.4   to receive the annuity, benefit, or refund.  Upon the request of 
 24.5   the retiree, disabilitant, survivor, or former officer or 
 24.6   dispatcher, the executive director may remit the annuity, 
 24.7   benefit, or refund check to the applicable financial institution 
 24.8   for deposit in the person's account or joint account.  The board 
 24.9   of trustees may prescribe the conditions under which payments 
 24.10  will be made.  
 24.11     Sec. 12.  [353G.12] [REFUND OR DEFERRED ANNUITY.] 
 24.12     Subdivision 1.  [REFUND.] A postsentencing officer or an 
 24.13  emergency dispatcher who terminates that employment or who is 
 24.14  laid off from that employment is entitled, upon application, to 
 24.15  a refund if the person is not reemployed by the person's prior 
 24.16  employer, by another employer covered by the retirement plan, or 
 24.17  by the state.  The refund is an amount equal to the accumulated 
 24.18  member contributions of the officer or the dispatcher, plus 
 24.19  interest at an annual compound rate of six percent per year.  
 24.20  The refund must include the interest that was paid as part of a 
 24.21  previous repayment of a prior refund, plus interest from the 
 24.22  date of that repayment.  Interest must be computed to the first 
 24.23  day of the month in which the refund is processed and must be 
 24.24  based on fiscal year or monthly balances, whichever applies.  
 24.25  Acceptance of a refund under this subdivision terminates all 
 24.26  allowable service and salary credit of the person in the 
 24.27  retirement plan and terminates all entitlement to rights or 
 24.28  benefits under this chapter.  
 24.29     Subd. 2.  [DEFERRED ANNUITY.] A postsentencing officer or 
 24.30  an emergency dispatcher who terminates that employment may elect 
 24.31  to have the accumulated member contributions in the retirement 
 24.32  fund and to remain entitled to a deferred retirement annuity.  
 24.33  The deferred retirement annuity must be computed under the law 
 24.34  in effect when the employment of the officer or dispatcher 
 24.35  terminated on the basis of the allowable service credited before 
 24.36  the termination of employment.  No application for a deferred 
 25.1   retirement annuity may be made more than 60 days before the date 
 25.2   when the former officer or the former dispatcher reaches the 
 25.3   required age for annuity entitlement.  The deferred annuity 
 25.4   begins to accrue no earlier than 60 days before the date when 
 25.5   the retirement annuity application is filed with the executive 
 25.6   director of the Public Employees Retirement Association, but not 
 25.7   before the date on which the officer or dispatcher reaches the 
 25.8   annuity entitlement required age or before the termination of 
 25.9   employment.  
 25.10     Sec. 13.  [353G.13] [SERVICE IN MORE THAN ONE RETIREMENT 
 25.11  PLAN.] 
 25.12     (a) A postsentencing officer or emergency dispatcher who 
 25.13  also has been a member of one retirement plan or a combination 
 25.14  of retirement plans listed in paragraph (b) is entitled, when 
 25.15  qualified, to an annuity from each plan if the total allowable 
 25.16  service credit in all retirement plans totals at least three 
 25.17  years. 
 25.18     (b) Applicable retirement plans are any retirement plan 
 25.19  administered by the Minnesota State Retirement System, any 
 25.20  retirement plan administered by the Public Employees Retirement 
 25.21  Association, the Teachers Retirement Association, the 
 25.22  Minneapolis Employees Retirement Fund, the Duluth Teachers 
 25.23  Retirement Fund Association, the Minneapolis Teachers Retirement 
 25.24  Fund Association, or the St. Paul Teachers Retirement Fund 
 25.25  Association.  
 25.26     (c) No portion of the allowable service upon which the 
 25.27  retirement annuity from one retirement plan is based may be 
 25.28  again used in the computation for benefits from another 
 25.29  retirement plan.  No refund may have been taken from any one of 
 25.30  these retirement plans since service entitling the person to 
 25.31  coverage under the plan or the person's membership in any of the 
 25.32  plans last terminated.  The annuity from each retirement plan 
 25.33  must be determined by the appropriate provisions of the law, 
 25.34  except that the requirement that a person must have at least 
 25.35  three years allowable service in the respective retirement plan 
 25.36  does not apply for the purposes of this section if the combined 
 26.1   service in two or more of these retirement plans equals three or 
 26.2   more years. 
 26.3      Sec. 14.  [353G.14] [DEFERRED ANNUITY AUGMENTATION.] 
 26.4      (a) The deferred annuity must be computed as provided in 
 26.5   section 353G.07 on the basis of allowable service rendered 
 26.6   before the termination of covered service and augmented as 
 26.7   provided in paragraph (b).  
 26.8      (b) The required reserves applicable to a deferred annuity, 
 26.9   to an annuity for which a former postsentencing officer or 
 26.10  emergency dispatcher was eligible but had not applied, or to any 
 26.11  deferred segment of an annuity must be determined as of the date 
 26.12  the benefit begins to accrue and is augmented by interest 
 26.13  compounded annually from the first day of the month following 
 26.14  the month in which the officer or dispatcher ceased to be an 
 26.15  officer or dispatcher to the first day of the month in which the 
 26.16  annuity begins to accrue.  The rates of interest used for this 
 26.17  purpose must be three percent compounded annually until January 
 26.18  1 of the year following the year in which the former officer or 
 26.19  dispatcher attains age 55.  From that date to the effective date 
 26.20  of retirement, the rate is five percent compounded annually.  If 
 26.21  a person has more than one period of uninterrupted service, the 
 26.22  required reserves related to each period must be augmented by 
 26.23  interest under this subdivision.  The sum of the augmented 
 26.24  required reserves so determined is the present value of the 
 26.25  annuity.  "Uninterrupted service" for the purpose of this 
 26.26  subdivision means periods of covered employment during which the 
 26.27  officer or dispatcher has not been separated from covered 
 26.28  employment for more than two years.  If a person repays a 
 26.29  refund, the service restored by the repayment must be considered 
 26.30  continuous with the next period of service for which the officer 
 26.31  or dispatcher has credit with this system.  The formula 
 26.32  percentages used for each period of uninterrupted service must 
 26.33  be those applicable to a new officer or dispatcher.  The 
 26.34  mortality table and interest assumption used to compute the 
 26.35  annuity must be those in effect when the officer or dispatcher 
 26.36  files an application for annuity.  This section may not cause a 
 27.1   reduction in the annuity otherwise payable under this chapter.  
 27.2      Sec. 15.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
 27.3      Sections 1 to 14 are effective on July 1, 2005. 
 27.4                              ARTICLE 2 
 27.5                          CONFORMING CHANGES 
 27.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 3.85, 
 27.7   subdivision 11, is amended to read: 
 27.8      Subd. 11.  [VALUATIONS AND REPORTS TO LEGISLATURE.] (a) The 
 27.9   commission shall contract with an established actuarial 
 27.10  consulting firm to conduct annual actuarial valuations for the 
 27.11  retirement plans named in paragraph (b).  The contract must 
 27.12  include provisions for performing cost analyses of proposals for 
 27.13  changes in benefit and funding policies.  
 27.14     (b) The contract for actuarial valuation must include the 
 27.15  following retirement plans:  
 27.16     (1) the teachers retirement plan, Teachers Retirement 
 27.17  Association; 
 27.18     (2) the general state employees retirement plan, Minnesota 
 27.19  State Retirement System; 
 27.20     (3) the correctional employees retirement plan, Minnesota 
 27.21  State Retirement System; 
 27.22     (4) the State Patrol retirement plan, Minnesota State 
 27.23  Retirement System; 
 27.24     (5) the judges retirement plan, Minnesota State Retirement 
 27.25  System; 
 27.26     (6) the Minneapolis employees retirement plan, Minneapolis 
 27.27  Employees Retirement Fund; 
 27.28     (7) the public employees retirement plan, Public Employees 
 27.29  Retirement Association; 
 27.30     (8) the public employees police and fire plan, Public 
 27.31  Employees Retirement Association; 
 27.32     (9) the Duluth teachers retirement plan, Duluth Teachers 
 27.33  Retirement Fund Association; 
 27.34     (10) the Minneapolis teachers retirement plan, Minneapolis 
 27.35  Teachers Retirement Fund Association; 
 27.36     (11) the St. Paul teachers retirement plan, St. Paul 
 28.1   Teachers Retirement Fund Association; 
 28.2      (12) the legislators retirement plan, Minnesota State 
 28.3   Retirement System; 
 28.4      (13) the elective state officers retirement plan, Minnesota 
 28.5   State Retirement System; and 
 28.6      (14) the local government correctional service retirement 
 28.7   plan, Public Employees Retirement Association; and 
 28.8      (15) the postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers 
 28.9   retirement plan, Public Employees Retirement Association.  
 28.10     (c) The contract must specify completion of annual 
 28.11  actuarial valuation calculations on a fiscal year basis with 
 28.12  their contents as specified in section 356.215, and the 
 28.13  standards for actuarial work adopted by the commission.  
 28.14     The contract must specify completion of annual experience 
 28.15  data collection and processing and a quadrennial published 
 28.16  experience study for the plans listed in paragraph (b), clauses 
 28.17  (1), (2), and (7), as provided for in the standards for 
 28.18  actuarial work adopted by the commission.  The experience data 
 28.19  collection, processing, and analysis must evaluate the following:
 28.20     (1) individual salary progression; 
 28.21     (2) rate of return on investments based on current asset 
 28.22  value; 
 28.23     (3) payroll growth; 
 28.24     (4) mortality; 
 28.25     (5) retirement age; 
 28.26     (6) withdrawal; and 
 28.27     (7) disablement.  
 28.28     (d) The actuary retained by the commission shall annually 
 28.29  prepare a report to the legislature, including the commentary on 
 28.30  the actuarial valuation calculations for the plans named in 
 28.31  paragraph (b) and summarizing the results of the actuarial 
 28.32  valuation calculations.  The commission-retained actuary shall 
 28.33  include with the report the actuary's recommendations concerning 
 28.34  the appropriateness of the support rates to achieve proper 
 28.35  funding of the retirement funds by the required funding dates.  
 28.36  The commission-retained actuary shall, as part of the 
 29.1   quadrennial published experience study, include recommendations 
 29.2   to the legislature on the appropriateness of the actuarial 
 29.3   valuation assumptions required for evaluation in the study.  
 29.4      (e) If the actuarial gain and loss analysis in the 
 29.5   actuarial valuation calculations indicates a persistent pattern 
 29.6   of sizable gains or losses, as directed by the commission, the 
 29.7   actuary retained by the commission shall prepare a special 
 29.8   experience study for a plan listed in paragraph (b), clause (3), 
 29.9   (4), (5), (6), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), (14), or 
 29.10  (14) (15), in the manner provided for in the standards for 
 29.11  actuarial work adopted by the commission. 
 29.12     (f) The term of the contract between the commission and the 
 29.13  actuary retained by the commission is four years.  The contract 
 29.14  is subject to competitive bidding procedures as specified by the 
 29.15  commission. 
 29.16     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 3.85, subdivision 
 29.17  12, is amended to read: 
 29.18     Subd. 12.  [ALLOCATION OF ACTUARIAL COST.] (a) The 
 29.19  commission shall assess each retirement plan specified in 
 29.20  subdivision 11, paragraph (b), its appropriate portion of the 
 29.21  compensation paid to the actuary retained by the commission for 
 29.22  the actuarial valuation calculations, quadrennial projection 
 29.23  valuations, and quadrennial experience studies.  The total 
 29.24  assessment is 100 percent of the amount of contract compensation 
 29.25  for the actuarial consulting firm retained by the commission for 
 29.26  actuarial valuation calculations, including any public employees 
 29.27  police and fire plan consolidation accounts of the Public 
 29.28  Employees Retirement Association established before March 2, 
 29.29  1999, for which the municipality declined merger under section 
 29.30  353.665, subdivision 1, or established after March 1, 1999, 
 29.31  annual experience data collection and processing, and 
 29.32  quadrennial experience studies and quadrennial projection 
 29.33  valuations.  
 29.34     The portion of the total assessment payable by each 
 29.35  retirement system or pension plan must be determined based on 
 29.36  each plan's proportion of the actuarial services required, as 
 30.1   determined by the commission's retained actuary, to complete the 
 30.2   actuarial valuation calculations, annual experience data 
 30.3   collection and processing, and quadrennial experience studies 
 30.4   for all plans.  
 30.5      (b) The assessment must be made within 30 days following 
 30.6   the end of the fiscal year and must be reported to the executive 
 30.7   director of the Legislative Commission on Pensions and 
 30.8   Retirement and to the chief administrative officers of the 
 30.9   applicable retirement plans.  The amount of the assessment is 
 30.10  appropriated from the retirement fund applicable to the 
 30.11  retirement plan.  Receipts from assessments must be transmitted 
 30.12  to the executive director of the Legislative Commission on 
 30.13  Pensions and Retirement and must be deposited in the state 
 30.14  treasury and credited to the general fund.  
 30.15     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2003 Supplement, section 
 30.16  352.01, subdivision 2b, is amended to read: 
 30.17     Subd. 2b.  [EXCLUDED EMPLOYEES.] "State employee" does not 
 30.18  include: 
 30.19     (1) students employed by the University of Minnesota, or 
 30.20  the state colleges and universities, unless approved for 
 30.21  coverage by the Board of Regents or the Board of Trustees of the 
 30.22  Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, as the case may be; 
 30.23     (2) employees who are eligible for membership in the state 
 30.24  Teachers Retirement Association, except employees of the 
 30.25  Department of Education who have chosen or may choose to be 
 30.26  covered by the general state employees retirement plan of the 
 30.27  Minnesota State Retirement System instead of the Teachers 
 30.28  Retirement Association; 
 30.29     (3) employees of the University of Minnesota who are 
 30.30  excluded from coverage by action of the Board of Regents; 
 30.31     (4) officers and enlisted personnel in the National Guard 
 30.32  and the naval militia who are assigned to permanent peacetime 
 30.33  duty and who under federal law are or are required to be members 
 30.34  of a federal retirement system; 
 30.35     (5) election officers; 
 30.36     (6) persons who are engaged in public work for the state 
 31.1   but who are employed by contractors when the performance of the 
 31.2   contract is authorized by the legislature or other competent 
 31.3   authority; 
 31.4      (7) officers and employees of the senate, or of the house 
 31.5   of representatives, or of a legislative committee or commission 
 31.6   who are temporarily employed; 
 31.7      (8) receivers, jurors, notaries public, and court employees 
 31.8   who are not in the judicial branch as defined in section 43A.02, 
 31.9   subdivision 25, except referees and adjusters employed by the 
 31.10  Department of Labor and Industry; 
 31.11     (9) patient and inmate help in state charitable, penal, and 
 31.12  correctional institutions including the Minnesota Veterans Home; 
 31.13     (10) persons who are employed for professional services 
 31.14  where the service is incidental to their regular professional 
 31.15  duties and whose compensation is paid on a per diem basis; 
 31.16     (11) employees of the Sibley House Association; 
 31.17     (12) the members of any state board or commission who serve 
 31.18  the state intermittently and are paid on a per diem basis; the 
 31.19  secretary, secretary-treasurer, and treasurer of those boards if 
 31.20  their compensation is $5,000 or less per year, or, if they are 
 31.21  legally prohibited from serving more than three years; and the 
 31.22  board of managers of the State Agricultural Society and its 
 31.23  treasurer unless the treasurer is also its full-time secretary; 
 31.24     (13) state troopers; 
 31.25     (14) temporary employees of the Minnesota State Fair who 
 31.26  are employed on or after July 1 for a period not to extend 
 31.27  beyond October 15 of that year; and persons who are employed at 
 31.28  any time by the state fair administration for special events 
 31.29  held on the fairgrounds; 
 31.30     (15) emergency employees who are in the classified service; 
 31.31  except that if an emergency employee, within the same pay 
 31.32  period, becomes a provisional or probationary employee on other 
 31.33  than a temporary basis, the employee shall be considered a 
 31.34  "state employee" retroactively to the beginning of the pay 
 31.35  period; 
 31.36     (16) persons who are described in section 352B.01, 
 32.1   subdivision 2, clauses (2) to (6); 
 32.2      (17) temporary employees in the classified service, and 
 32.3   temporary employees in the unclassified service who are 
 32.4   appointed for a definite period of not more than six months and 
 32.5   who are employed less than six months in any one-year period; 
 32.6      (18) trainee employees, except those listed in subdivision 
 32.7   2a, clause (10); 
 32.8      (19) persons whose compensation is paid on a fee basis; 
 32.9      (20) state employees who are employed by the Board of 
 32.10  Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities in 
 32.11  unclassified positions enumerated in section 43A.08, subdivision 
 32.12  1, clause (9); 
 32.13     (21) state employees who in any year have credit for 12 
 32.14  months service as teachers in the public schools of the state 
 32.15  and as teachers are members of the Teachers Retirement 
 32.16  Association or a retirement system in St. Paul, Minneapolis, or 
 32.17  Duluth; 
 32.18     (22) employees of the adjutant general who are employed on 
 32.19  an unlimited intermittent or temporary basis in the classified 
 32.20  or unclassified service for the support of Army and Air National 
 32.21  Guard training facilities; 
 32.22     (23) chaplains and nuns who are excluded from coverage 
 32.23  under the federal Old Age, Survivors, Disability, and Health 
 32.24  Insurance Program for the performance of service as specified in 
 32.25  United States Code, title 42, section 410(a)(8)(A), as amended, 
 32.26  if no irrevocable election of coverage has been made under 
 32.27  section 3121(r) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended 
 32.28  through December 31, 1992; 
 32.29     (24) examination monitors who are employed by departments, 
 32.30  agencies, commissions, and boards to conduct examinations 
 32.31  required by law; 
 32.32     (25) persons who are appointed to serve as members of 
 32.33  fact-finding commissions or adjustment panels, arbitrators, or 
 32.34  labor referees under chapter 179; 
 32.35     (26) temporary employees who are employed for limited 
 32.36  periods under any state or federal program for training or 
 33.1   rehabilitation, including persons who are employed for limited 
 33.2   periods from areas of economic distress, but not including 
 33.3   skilled and supervisory personnel and persons having civil 
 33.4   service status covered by the system; 
 33.5      (27) full-time students who are employed by the Minnesota 
 33.6   Historical Society intermittently during part of the year and 
 33.7   full-time during the summer months; 
 33.8      (28) temporary employees who are appointed for not more 
 33.9   than six months, of the Metropolitan Council and of any of its 
 33.10  statutory boards, if the board members are appointed by the 
 33.11  Metropolitan Council; 
 33.12     (29) persons who are employed in positions designated by 
 33.13  the Department of Employee Relations as student workers; 
 33.14     (30) members of trades who are employed by the successor to 
 33.15  the Metropolitan Waste Control Commission, who have trade union 
 33.16  pension plan coverage under a collective bargaining agreement, 
 33.17  and who are first employed after June 1, 1977; 
 33.18     (31) persons who are employed in subsidized on-the-job 
 33.19  training, work experience, or public service employment as 
 33.20  enrollees under the federal Comprehensive Employment and 
 33.21  Training Act after March 30, 1978, unless the person has as of 
 33.22  the later of March 30, 1978, or the date of employment 
 33.23  sufficient service credit in the retirement system to meet the 
 33.24  minimum vesting requirements for a deferred annuity, or the 
 33.25  employer agrees in writing on forms prescribed by the director 
 33.26  to make the required employer contributions, including any 
 33.27  employer additional contributions, on account of that person 
 33.28  from revenue sources other than funds provided under the federal 
 33.29  Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, or the person agrees 
 33.30  in writing on forms prescribed by the director to make the 
 33.31  required employer contribution in addition to the required 
 33.32  employee contribution state employees who, in the capacity of 
 33.33  postsentencing officers or emergency dispatchers, are members of 
 33.34  the postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers retirement 
 33.35  plan; 
 33.36     (32) off-duty peace officers while employed by the 
 34.1   Metropolitan Council; 
 34.2      (33) persons who are employed as full-time police officers 
 34.3   by the Metropolitan Council and, as police officers, are members 
 34.4   of the public employees police and fire fund; 
 34.5      (34) persons who are employed as full-time firefighters by 
 34.6   the Department of Military Affairs and as firefighters are 
 34.7   members of the public employees police and fire fund; 
 34.8      (35) foreign citizens with a work permit of less than three 
 34.9   years, or an H-1b/JV visa valid for less than three years of 
 34.10  employment, unless notice of extension is supplied which allows 
 34.11  them to work for three or more years as of the date the 
 34.12  extension is granted, in which case they are eligible for 
 34.13  coverage from the date extended; and 
 34.14     (36) persons who are employed by the Board of Trustees of 
 34.15  the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and who elect to 
 34.16  remain members of the Public Employees Retirement Association or 
 34.17  the Minneapolis Employees Retirement Fund, whichever applies, 
 34.18  under section 136C.75.  
 34.19     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 353.01, 
 34.20  subdivision 2b, is amended to read: 
 34.21     Subd. 2b.  [EXCLUDED EMPLOYEES.] The following public 
 34.22  employees are not eligible to participate as members of the 
 34.23  association with retirement coverage by the public employees 
 34.24  retirement plan, the local government correctional employees 
 34.25  retirement plan under chapter 353E, or the public employees 
 34.26  police and fire retirement plan: 
 34.27     (1) public officers, other than county sheriffs, who are 
 34.28  elected to a governing body, or persons who are appointed to 
 34.29  fill a vacancy in an elective office of a governing body, whose 
 34.30  term of office first commences on or after July 1, 2002, for the 
 34.31  service to be rendered in that elective position.  Elected 
 34.32  governing body officials who were active members of the 
 34.33  association's coordinated or basic retirement plans as of June 
 34.34  30, 2002, continue participation throughout incumbency in office 
 34.35  until termination of public service occurs as defined in 
 34.36  subdivision 11a; 
 35.1      (2) election officers or election judges; 
 35.2      (3) patient and inmate personnel who perform services for a 
 35.3   governmental subdivision; 
 35.4      (4) employees who are hired for a temporary position under 
 35.5   subdivision 12a, and employees who resign from a nontemporary 
 35.6   position and accept a temporary position within 30 days in the 
 35.7   same governmental subdivision.  An employer must not apply the 
 35.8   definition of temporary position so as to exclude employees who 
 35.9   are hired to fill positions that are permanent or that are for 
 35.10  an unspecified period but who are serving a probationary period 
 35.11  at the start of the employment.  If the period of employment 
 35.12  extends beyond six consecutive months and the employee earns 
 35.13  more than $425 from one governmental subdivision in any calendar 
 35.14  month, the department head shall report the employee for 
 35.15  membership and require employee deductions be made on behalf of 
 35.16  the employee under section 353.27, subdivision 4. 
 35.17     The membership eligibility of an employee who resigns or is 
 35.18  dismissed from a temporary position and within 30 days accepts 
 35.19  another temporary position in the same governmental subdivision 
 35.20  is determined on the total length of employment rather than on 
 35.21  each separate position.  Membership eligibility of an employee 
 35.22  who holds concurrent temporary and nontemporary positions in one 
 35.23  governmental subdivision is determined by the length of 
 35.24  employment and salary of each separate position; 
 35.25     (5) employees who are employed by reason of work emergency 
 35.26  caused by fire, flood, storm, or similar disaster; 
 35.27     (6) employees who by virtue of their employment in one 
 35.28  governmental subdivision are required by law to be a member of 
 35.29  and to contribute to any of the plans or funds administered by 
 35.30  the Minnesota State Retirement System, the Teachers Retirement 
 35.31  Association, the Duluth Teachers Retirement Fund Association, 
 35.32  the Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Association, the St. Paul 
 35.33  Teachers Retirement Fund Association, the Minneapolis Employees 
 35.34  Retirement Fund, or any police or firefighters relief 
 35.35  association governed by section 69.77 that has not consolidated 
 35.36  with the Public Employees Retirement Association, or any local 
 36.1   police or firefighters consolidation account but who have not 
 36.2   elected the type of benefit coverage provided by the public 
 36.3   employees police and fire fund under sections 353A.01 to 
 36.4   353A.10, or any persons covered by section 353.665, subdivision 
 36.5   4, 5, or 6, who have not elected public employees police and 
 36.6   fire plan benefit coverage.  This clause must not be construed 
 36.7   to prevent a person from being a member of and contributing to 
 36.8   the Public Employees Retirement Association and also belonging 
 36.9   to and contributing to another public pension fund for other 
 36.10  service occurring during the same period of time.  A person who 
 36.11  meets the definition of "public employee" in subdivision 2 by 
 36.12  virtue of other service occurring during the same period of time 
 36.13  becomes a member of the association unless contributions are 
 36.14  made to another public retirement fund on the salary based on 
 36.15  the other service or to the Teachers Retirement Association by a 
 36.16  teacher as defined in section 354.05, subdivision 2; 
 36.17     (7) persons who are members of a religious order and are 
 36.18  excluded from coverage under the federal Old Age, Survivors, 
 36.19  Disability, and Health Insurance Program for the performance of 
 36.20  service as specified in United States Code, title 42, section 
 36.21  410(a)(8)(A), as amended through January 1, 1987, if no 
 36.22  irrevocable election of coverage has been made under section 
 36.23  3121(r) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended; 
 36.24     (8) employees of a governmental subdivision who have not 
 36.25  reached the age of 23 and are enrolled on a full-time basis to 
 36.26  attend or are attending classes on a full-time basis at an 
 36.27  accredited school, college, or university in an undergraduate, 
 36.28  graduate, or professional-technical program, or a public or 
 36.29  charter high school; 
 36.30     (9) resident physicians, medical interns, and pharmacist 
 36.31  residents and pharmacist interns who are serving in a degree or 
 36.32  residency program in public hospitals; 
 36.33     (10) students who are serving in an internship or residency 
 36.34  program sponsored by an accredited educational institution; 
 36.35     (11) persons who hold a part-time adult supplementary 
 36.36  technical college license who render part-time teaching service 
 37.1   in a technical college; 
 37.2      (12) except for employees of Hennepin County, foreign 
 37.3   citizens working for a governmental subdivision with a work 
 37.4   permit of less than three years, or an H-1b visa valid for less 
 37.5   than three years of employment.  Upon notice to the association 
 37.6   that the work permit or visa extends beyond the three-year 
 37.7   period, the foreign citizens are to be reported for membership 
 37.8   from the date of the extension; 
 37.9      (13) public hospital employees who elected not to 
 37.10  participate as members of the association before 1972 and who 
 37.11  did not elect to participate from July 1, 1988, to October 1, 
 37.12  1988; 
 37.13     (14) except as provided in section 353.86, volunteer 
 37.14  ambulance service personnel, as defined in subdivision 35, but 
 37.15  persons who serve as volunteer ambulance service personnel may 
 37.16  still qualify as public employees under subdivision 2 and may be 
 37.17  members of the Public Employees Retirement Association and 
 37.18  participants in the public employees retirement fund or the 
 37.19  public employees police and fire fund, whichever applies, on the 
 37.20  basis of compensation received from public employment service 
 37.21  other than service as volunteer ambulance service personnel; 
 37.22     (15) except as provided in section 353.87, volunteer 
 37.23  firefighters, as defined in subdivision 36, engaging in 
 37.24  activities undertaken as part of volunteer firefighter duties; 
 37.25  provided that a person who is a volunteer firefighter may still 
 37.26  qualify as a public employee under subdivision 2 and may be a 
 37.27  member of the Public Employees Retirement Association and a 
 37.28  participant in the public employees retirement fund or the 
 37.29  public employees police and fire fund, whichever applies, on the 
 37.30  basis of compensation received from public employment activities 
 37.31  other than those as a volunteer firefighter; 
 37.32     (16) pipefitters and associated trades personnel employed 
 37.33  by Independent School District No. 625, St. Paul, with coverage 
 37.34  under a collective bargaining agreement by the pipefitters local 
 37.35  455 pension plan who were either first employed after May 1, 
 37.36  1997, or, if first employed before May 2, 1997, elected to be 
 38.1   excluded under Laws 1997, chapter 241, article 2, section 12; 
 38.2      (17) electrical workers, plumbers, carpenters, and 
 38.3   associated trades personnel employed by Independent School 
 38.4   District No. 625, St. Paul, or the city of St. Paul, who have 
 38.5   retirement coverage under a collective bargaining agreement by 
 38.6   the Electrical Workers Local 110 pension plan, the United 
 38.7   Association Plumbers Local 34 pension plan, or the Carpenters 
 38.8   Local 87 pension plan who were either first employed after May 
 38.9   1, 2000, or, if first employed before May 2, 2000, elected to be 
 38.10  excluded under Laws 2000, chapter 461, article 7, section 5; 
 38.11     (18) bricklayers, allied craftworkers, cement masons, 
 38.12  glaziers, glassworkers, painters, allied tradesworkers, and 
 38.13  plasterers employed by the city of St. Paul or Independent 
 38.14  School District No. 625, St. Paul, with coverage under a 
 38.15  collective bargaining agreement by the Bricklayers and Allied 
 38.16  Craftworkers Local 1 pension plan, the Cement Masons Local 633 
 38.17  pension plan, the Glaziers and Glassworkers Local L-1324 pension 
 38.18  plan, the Painters and Allied Trades Local 61 pension plan, or 
 38.19  the Twin Cities Plasterers Local 265 pension plan who were 
 38.20  either first employed after May 1, 2001, or if first employed 
 38.21  before May 2, 2001, elected to be excluded under Laws 2001, 
 38.22  First Special Session chapter 10, article 10, section 6; 
 38.23     (19) plumbers employed by the metropolitan airports 
 38.24  commission, with coverage under a collective bargaining 
 38.25  agreement by the Plumbers Local 34 pension plan, who either were 
 38.26  first employed after May 1, 2001, or if first employed before 
 38.27  May 2, 2001, elected to be excluded under Laws 2001, First 
 38.28  Special Session chapter 10, article 10, section 6; 
 38.29     (20) employees who are hired after June 30, 2002, to fill 
 38.30  seasonal positions under subdivision 12b which are limited in 
 38.31  duration by the employer to 185 consecutive calendar days or 
 38.32  less in each year of employment with the governmental 
 38.33  subdivision; 
 38.34     (21) persons who are provided supported employment or 
 38.35  work-study positions by a governmental subdivision and who 
 38.36  participate in an employment or industries program maintained 
 39.1   for the benefit of these persons where the governmental 
 39.2   subdivision limits the position's duration to three years or 
 39.3   less, including persons participating in a federal or state 
 39.4   subsidized on-the-job training, work experience, senior citizen, 
 39.5   youth, or unemployment relief program where the training or work 
 39.6   experience is not provided as a part of, or for, future 
 39.7   permanent public employment; 
 39.8      (22) independent contractors and the employees of 
 39.9   independent contractors; and 
 39.10     (23) local governmental employees who, in the capacity of 
 39.11  postsentencing officers or emergency dispatchers, are members of 
 39.12  the postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers retirement 
 39.13  plan; and 
 39.14     (24) reemployed annuitants of the association during the 
 39.15  course of that reemployment. 
 39.16     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 355.01, is 
 39.17  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
 39.18     Subd. 2g.  [EMERGENCY DISPATCHER.] "Emergency dispatcher" 
 39.19  means a full-time employee of the state or local governmental 
 39.20  unit who is employed at a primary public safety answering point, 
 39.21  whose primary employment responsibility is receiving emergency 
 39.22  "911" telephone communications from the public which requires 
 39.23  the subsequent contact with and the response by police, fire, or 
 39.24  medical resources, who is certified by the governmental employer 
 39.25  as regularly and consistently spending at least 75 percent of 
 39.26  the person's employment time in these duties, and who, in that 
 39.27  capacity, is a member of the postsentencing officers and 
 39.28  emergency dispatchers retirement plan under chapter 353G. 
 39.29     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 355.01, is 
 39.30  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
 39.31     Subd. 3m.  [POSTSENTENCING OFFICER.] "Postsentencing 
 39.32  officer" means a full-time employee of the state or local 
 39.33  governmental unit who is responsible for the control, 
 39.34  supervision, and care of convicted offenders on probation in 
 39.35  lieu of imprisonment or of offenders conditionally released on 
 39.36  parole after imprisonment where the employee is certified by the 
 40.1   governmental employer as regularly and consistently spending at 
 40.2   least 75 percent of the person's employment time in the direct 
 40.3   control, supervision, and care of convicted offenders who 
 40.4   represent a risk of violence or physical harm to the employee 
 40.5   and who, in that capacity, is a member of the postsentencing 
 40.6   officers and emergency dispatchers retirement plan under chapter 
 40.7   353G.  
 40.8      Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 355.02, 
 40.9   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
 40.10     Subd. 3.  [GROUPS COVERED BY SOCIAL SECURITY.] The 
 40.11  following groups must be covered by an agreement or a 
 40.12  modification to an agreement between the director and the 
 40.13  federal Secretary of Health and Human Services: 
 40.14     (1) constitutional officers; 
 40.15     (2) Duluth teachers; 
 40.16     (3) educational employees; 
 40.17     (4) higher education employees; 
 40.18     (5) hospital employees; 
 40.19     (6) judges; 
 40.20     (7) legislators; 
 40.21     (8) Minneapolis teachers; 
 40.22     (9) public employees, including members of the local 
 40.23  government correctional service retirement plan; 
 40.24     (10) St. Paul teachers; 
 40.25     (11) special authority or district employees; and 
 40.26     (12) state employees; 
 40.27     (13) emergency dispatchers; and 
 40.28     (14) postsentencing officers. 
 40.29     Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 356.20, 
 40.30  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
 40.31     Subd. 2.  [COVERED PUBLIC PENSION PLANS AND FUNDS.] This 
 40.32  section applies to the following public pension plans: 
 40.33     (1) the general state employees retirement plan of the 
 40.34  Minnesota State Retirement System; 
 40.35     (2) the general employees retirement plan of the Public 
 40.36  Employees Retirement Association; 
 41.1      (3) the Teachers Retirement Association; 
 41.2      (4) the State Patrol retirement plan; 
 41.3      (5) the Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Fund Association; 
 41.4      (6) the St. Paul Teachers Retirement Fund Association; 
 41.5      (7) the Duluth Teachers Retirement Fund Association; 
 41.6      (8) the Minneapolis Employees Retirement Fund; 
 41.7      (9) the University of Minnesota faculty retirement plan; 
 41.8      (10) the University of Minnesota faculty supplemental 
 41.9   retirement plan; 
 41.10     (11) the judges retirement fund; 
 41.11     (12) a police or firefighter's relief association specified 
 41.12  or described in section 69.77, subdivision 1a, or 69.771, 
 41.13  subdivision 1; 
 41.14     (13) the public employees police and fire plan of the 
 41.15  Public Employees Retirement Association; 
 41.16     (14) the correctional state employees retirement plan of 
 41.17  the Minnesota State Retirement System; and 
 41.18     (15) the local government correctional service retirement 
 41.19  plan of the Public Employees Retirement Association; and 
 41.20     (16) the postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers 
 41.21  retirement plan of the Public Employees Retirement Association. 
 41.22     Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 356.215, 
 41.23  subdivision 8, is amended to read: 
 41.24     Subd. 8.  [INTEREST AND SALARY ASSUMPTIONS.] (a) The 
 41.25  actuarial valuation must use the applicable following 
 41.26  preretirement interest assumption and the applicable following 
 41.27  postretirement interest assumption: 
 41.28                                     preretirement  postretirement 
 41.29                                     interest rate  interest rate 
 41.30              plan                      assumption     assumption 
 41.31       general state employees 
 41.32           retirement plan                  8.5%          6.0% 
 41.33       correctional state employees 
 41.34           retirement plan                  8.5           6.0 
 41.35       State Patrol retirement plan         8.5           6.0 
 41.36       legislators retirement plan          8.5           6.0 
 41.37       elective state officers
 41.38           retirement plan                  8.5           6.0 
 41.39       judges retirement plan               8.5           6.0 
 41.40       general public employees 
 41.41           retirement plan                  8.5           6.0 
 41.42       public employees police and fire 
 41.43           retirement plan                  8.5           6.0 
 41.44       local government correctional 
 42.1            service retirement plan          8.5           6.0 
 42.2        postsentencing officers and
 42.3            emergency dispatchers
 42.4            retirement plan                  8.5           6.0
 42.5        teachers retirement plan             8.5           6.0 
 42.6        Minneapolis employees 
 42.7            retirement plan                  6.0           5.0 
 42.8        Duluth teachers retirement plan      8.5           8.5 
 42.9        Minneapolis teachers retirement
 42.10           plan                             8.5           8.5 
 42.11       St. Paul teachers retirement 
 42.12           plan                             8.5           8.5 
 42.13       Minneapolis Police Relief 
 42.14           Association                      6.0           6.0 
 42.15       Fairmont Police Relief 
 42.16           Association                      5.0           5.0 
 42.17       Minneapolis Fire Department 
 42.18           Relief Association               6.0           6.0 
 42.19       Virginia Fire Department
 42.20           Relief Association               5.0           5.0 
 42.21       local monthly benefit volunteer 
 42.22           firefighters relief associations 5.0           5.0 
 42.23     (b) The actuarial valuation must use the applicable 
 42.24  following single rate future salary increase assumption, the 
 42.25  applicable following modified single rate future salary increase 
 42.26  assumption, or the applicable following graded rate future 
 42.27  salary increase assumption: 
 42.28     (1) single rate future salary increase assumption 
 42.29                                              future salary 
 42.30              plan                          increase assumption 
 42.31       legislators retirement plan                  5.0% 
 42.32       elective state officers retirement 
 42.33           plan                                     5.0 
 42.34       judges retirement plan                       5.0 
 42.35       Minneapolis Police Relief Association        4.0 
 42.36       Fairmont Police Relief 
 42.37           Association                              3.5 
 42.38       Minneapolis Fire Department Relief 
 42.39           Association                              4.0 
 42.40       Virginia Fire Department
 42.41           Relief Association                       3.5 
 42.42     (2) modified single rate future salary increase assumption 
 42.43                                              future salary 
 42.44                 plan                       increase assumption
 42.45           Minneapolis employees        the prior calendar year 
 42.46             retirement plan            amount increased first by 
 42.47                                        1.0198 percent to prior 
 42.48                                        fiscal year date and
 42.49                                        then increased by 4.0 
 42.50                                        percent annually for
 42.51                                        each future year
 42.52     (3) select and ultimate future salary increase assumption 
 42.53  or graded rate future salary increase assumption 
 42.54                                               future salary 
 42.55                 plan                       increase assumption 
 42.56       general state employees             select calculation and
 42.57           retirement plan                      assumption A 
 42.58       correctional state employees 
 42.59           retirement plan                      assumption H 
 43.1        State Patrol retirement plan             assumption H 
 43.2        general public employees            select calculation and
 43.3            retirement plan                      assumption B 
 43.4        public employees police and fire 
 43.5            fund retirement plan                 assumption C 
 43.6        local government correctional service 
 43.7            retirement plan                      assumption H 
 43.8        postsentencing officers and
 43.9            emergency dispatchers
 43.10           retirement plan                      assumption H
 43.11       teachers retirement plan                 assumption D 
 43.12       Duluth teachers retirement plan          assumption E 
 43.13       Minneapolis teachers retirement plan     assumption F 
 43.14       St. Paul teachers retirement plan        assumption G 
 43.15       
 43.16       The select calculation is:
 43.17       during the ten-year select period, a designated percent
 43.18       is multiplied by the result of ten minus T, where T is 
 43.19       the number of completed years of service, and is added
 43.20       to the applicable future salary increase assumption.  The
 43.21       designated percent is 0.2 percent for the correctional state
 43.22       employees retirement plan, the State Patrol retirement
 43.23       plan, the public employees police and fire plan, and the
 43.24       local government correctional service plan, and the
 43.25       postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers
 43.26       retirement plan; 0.3 percent for the general state employees
 43.27       retirement plan, the general public employees retirement
 43.28       plan, the teachers retirement plan, the Duluth Teachers
 43.29       Retirement Fund Association, and the St. Paul Teachers
 43.30       Retirement Fund Association; and 0.4 percent for the
 43.31       Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Fund Association.
 43.32       
 43.33            The ultimate future salary increase assumption is:
 43.34       
 43.35       age  A     B      C     D     E     F     G      H 
 43.36       16  6.95% 6.95% 11.50% 8.20% 8.00% 6.50% 6.90% 7.7500
 43.37       17  6.90  6.90  11.50  8.15  8.00  6.50  6.90  7.7500
 43.38       18  6.85  6.85  11.50  8.10  8.00  6.50  6.90  7.7500
 43.39       19  6.80  6.80  11.50  8.05  8.00  6.50  6.90  7.7500
 43.40       20  6.75  6.40  11.50  6.00  6.90  6.50  6.90  7.7500
 43.41       21  6.75  6.40  11.50  6.00  6.90  6.50  6.90  7.1454
 43.42       22  6.75  6.40  11.00  6.00  6.90  6.50  6.90  7.0725
 43.43       23  6.75  6.40  10.50  6.00  6.85  6.50  6.85  7.0544
 43.44       24  6.75  6.40  10.00  6.00  6.80  6.50  6.80  7.0363
 43.45       25  6.75  6.40   9.50  6.00  6.75  6.50  6.75  7.0000 
 43.46       26  6.75  6.36   9.20  6.00  6.70  6.50  6.70  7.0000
 43.47       27  6.75  6.32   8.90  6.00  6.65  6.50  6.65  7.0000 
 43.48       28  6.75  6.28   8.60  6.00  6.60  6.50  6.60  7.0000
 43.49       29  6.75  6.24   8.30  6.00  6.55  6.50  6.55  7.0000
 43.50       30  6.75  6.20   8.00  6.00  6.50  6.50  6.50  7.0000
 43.51       31  6.75  6.16   7.80  6.00  6.45  6.50  6.45  7.0000
 43.52       32  6.75  6.12   7.60  6.00  6.40  6.50  6.40  7.0000
 43.53       33  6.75  6.08   7.40  6.00  6.35  6.50  6.35  7.0000
 43.54       34  6.75  6.04   7.20  6.00  6.30  6.50  6.30  7.0000
 43.55       35  6.75  6.00   7.00  6.00  6.25  6.50  6.25  7.0000
 43.56       36  6.75  5.96   6.80  6.00  6.20  6.50  6.20  6.9019
 43.57       37  6.75  5.92   6.60  6.00  6.15  6.50  6.15  6.8074
 43.58       38  6.75  5.88   6.40  5.90  6.10  6.50  6.10  6.7125
 43.59       39  6.75  5.84   6.20  5.80  6.05  6.50  6.05  6.6054
 43.60       40  6.75  5.80   6.00  5.70  6.00  6.50  6.00  6.5000
 43.61       41  6.75  5.76   5.90  5.60  5.90  6.50  5.95  6.3540
 43.62       42  6.75  5.72   5.80  5.50  5.80  6.50  5.90  6.2087
 43.63       43  6.65  5.68   5.70  5.40  5.70  6.50  5.85  6.0622
 43.64       44  6.55  5.64   5.60  5.30  5.60  6.50  5.80  5.9048
 43.65       45  6.45  5.60   5.50  5.20  5.50  6.50  5.75  5.7500
 43.66       46  6.35  5.56   5.45  5.10  5.40  6.40  5.70  5.6940
 43.67       47  6.25  5.52   5.40  5.00  5.30  6.30  5.65  5.6375
 43.68       48  6.15  5.48   5.35  5.00  5.20  6.20  5.60  5.5822
 43.69       49  6.05  5.44   5.30  5.00  5.10  6.10  5.55  5.5404
 43.70       50  5.95  5.40   5.25  5.00  5.00  6.00  5.50  5.5000
 43.71       51  5.85  5.36   5.25  5.00  5.00  5.90  5.45  5.4384
 44.1        52  5.75  5.32   5.25  5.00  5.00  5.80  5.40  5.3776
 44.2        53  5.65  5.28   5.25  5.00  5.00  5.70  5.35  5.3167
 44.3        54  5.55  5.24   5.25  5.00  5.00  5.60  5.30  5.2826
 44.4        55  5.45  5.20   5.25  5.00  5.00  5.50  5.25  5.2500 
 44.5        56  5.35  5.16   5.25  5.00  5.00  5.40  5.20  5.2500
 44.6        57  5.25  5.12   5.25  5.00  5.00  5.30  5.15  5.2500
 44.7        58  5.25  5.08   5.25  5.10  5.00  5.20  5.10  5.2500
 44.8        59  5.25  5.04   5.25  5.20  5.00  5.10  5.05  5.2500
 44.9        60  5.25  5.00   5.25  5.30  5.00  5.00  5.00  5.2500
 44.10       61  5.25  5.00   5.25  5.40  5.00  5.00  5.00  5.2500
 44.11       62  5.25  5.00   5.25  5.50  5.00  5.00  5.00  5.2500
 44.12       63  5.25  5.00   5.25  5.60  5.00  5.00  5.00  5.2500
 44.13       64  5.25  5.00   5.25  5.70  5.00  5.00  5.00  5.2500
 44.14       65  5.25  5.00   5.25  5.70  5.00  5.00  5.00  5.2500
 44.15       66  5.25  5.00   5.25  5.70  5.00  5.00  5.00  5.2500
 44.16       67  5.25  5.00   5.25  5.70  5.00  5.00  5.00  5.2500
 44.17       68  5.25  5.00   5.25  5.70  5.00  5.00  5.00  5.2500
 44.18       69  5.25  5.00   5.25  5.70  5.00  5.00  5.00  5.2500
 44.19       70  5.25  5.00   5.25  5.70  5.00  5.00  5.00  5.2500
 44.20       71  5.25  5.00         5.70
 44.21     (c) The actuarial valuation must use the applicable 
 44.22  following payroll growth assumption for calculating the 
 44.23  amortization requirement for the unfunded actuarial accrued 
 44.24  liability where the amortization retirement is calculated as a 
 44.25  level percentage of an increasing payroll: 
 44.26                                                   payroll growth
 44.27                    plan                             assumption 
 44.28       general state employees retirement plan          5.00% 
 44.29       correctional state employees retirement plan     5.00 
 44.30       State Patrol retirement plan                     5.00 
 44.31       legislators retirement plan                      5.00 
 44.32       elective state officers retirement plan          5.00 
 44.33       judges retirement plan                           5.00 
 44.34       general public employees retirement plan         6.00 
 44.35       public employees police and fire 
 44.36           retirement plan                              6.00 
 44.37       local government correctional service 
 44.38           retirement plan                              6.00 
 44.39       postsentencing officers and emergency
 44.40           dispatchers retirement plan                  5.00
 44.41       teachers retirement plan                         5.00 
 44.42       Duluth teachers retirement plan                  5.00 
 44.43       Minneapolis teachers retirement plan             5.00 
 44.44       St. Paul teachers retirement plan                5.00 
 44.45     Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 356.215, 
 44.46  subdivision 11, is amended to read: 
 44.47     Subd. 11.  [AMORTIZATION CONTRIBUTIONS.] (a) In addition to 
 44.48  the exhibit indicating the level normal cost, the actuarial 
 44.49  valuation must contain an exhibit indicating the additional 
 44.50  annual contribution sufficient to amortize the unfunded 
 44.51  actuarial accrued liability.  For funds governed by chapters 3A, 
 44.52  352, 352B, 352C, 353, 353G, 354, 354A, and 490, the additional 
 44.53  contribution must be calculated on a level percentage of covered 
 44.54  payroll basis by the established date for full funding in effect 
 45.1   when the valuation is prepared.  For funds governed by chapter 
 45.2   3A, sections 352.90 through 352.951, chapters 352B, 352C, 
 45.3   sections 353.63 through 353.68, and chapters 353C, 353G, 354A, 
 45.4   and 490, the level percent additional contribution must be 
 45.5   calculated assuming annual payroll growth of 6.5 percent.  For 
 45.6   funds governed by sections 352.01 through 352.86 and chapter 
 45.7   354, the level percent additional contribution must be 
 45.8   calculated assuming an annual payroll growth of five percent.  
 45.9   For the fund governed by sections 353.01 through 353.46, the 
 45.10  level percent additional contribution must be calculated 
 45.11  assuming an annual payroll growth of six percent.  For all other 
 45.12  funds, the additional annual contribution must be calculated on 
 45.13  a level annual dollar amount basis. 
 45.14     (b) For any fund other than the Minneapolis Employees 
 45.15  Retirement Fund and the Public Employees Retirement Association 
 45.16  general plan, if there has not been a change in the actuarial 
 45.17  assumptions used for calculating the actuarial accrued liability 
 45.18  of the fund, a change in the benefit plan governing annuities 
 45.19  and benefits payable from the fund, a change in the actuarial 
 45.20  cost method used in calculating the actuarial accrued liability 
 45.21  of all or a portion of the fund, or a combination of the three, 
 45.22  which change or changes by itself or by themselves without 
 45.23  inclusion of any other items of increase or decrease produce a 
 45.24  net increase in the unfunded actuarial accrued liability of the 
 45.25  fund, the established date for full funding is the first 
 45.26  actuarial valuation date occurring after June 1, 2020.  
 45.27     (c) For any fund or plan other than the Minneapolis 
 45.28  Employees Retirement Fund and the Public Employees Retirement 
 45.29  Association general plan, if there has been a change in any or 
 45.30  all of the actuarial assumptions used for calculating the 
 45.31  actuarial accrued liability of the fund, a change in the benefit 
 45.32  plan governing annuities and benefits payable from the fund, a 
 45.33  change in the actuarial cost method used in calculating the 
 45.34  actuarial accrued liability of all or a portion of the fund, or 
 45.35  a combination of the three, and the change or changes, by itself 
 45.36  or by themselves and without inclusion of any other items of 
 46.1   increase or decrease, produce a net increase in the unfunded 
 46.2   actuarial accrued liability in the fund, the established date 
 46.3   for full funding must be determined using the following 
 46.4   procedure:  
 46.5      (i) the unfunded actuarial accrued liability of the fund 
 46.6   must be determined in accordance with the plan provisions 
 46.7   governing annuities and retirement benefits and the actuarial 
 46.8   assumptions in effect before an applicable change; 
 46.9      (ii) the level annual dollar contribution or level 
 46.10  percentage, whichever is applicable, needed to amortize the 
 46.11  unfunded actuarial accrued liability amount determined under 
 46.12  item (i) by the established date for full funding in effect 
 46.13  before the change must be calculated using the interest 
 46.14  assumption specified in subdivision 8 in effect before the 
 46.15  change; 
 46.16     (iii) the unfunded actuarial accrued liability of the fund 
 46.17  must be determined in accordance with any new plan provisions 
 46.18  governing annuities and benefits payable from the fund and any 
 46.19  new actuarial assumptions and the remaining plan provisions 
 46.20  governing annuities and benefits payable from the fund and 
 46.21  actuarial assumptions in effect before the change; 
 46.22     (iv) the level annual dollar contribution or level 
 46.23  percentage, whichever is applicable, needed to amortize the 
 46.24  difference between the unfunded actuarial accrued liability 
 46.25  amount calculated under item (i) and the unfunded actuarial 
 46.26  accrued liability amount calculated under item (iii) over a 
 46.27  period of 30 years from the end of the plan year in which the 
 46.28  applicable change is effective must be calculated using the 
 46.29  applicable interest assumption specified in subdivision 8 in 
 46.30  effect after any applicable change; 
 46.31     (v) the level annual dollar or level percentage 
 46.32  amortization contribution under item (iv) must be added to the 
 46.33  level annual dollar amortization contribution or level 
 46.34  percentage calculated under item (ii); 
 46.35     (vi) the period in which the unfunded actuarial accrued 
 46.36  liability amount determined in item (iii) is amortized by the 
 47.1   total level annual dollar or level percentage amortization 
 47.2   contribution computed under item (v) must be calculated using 
 47.3   the interest assumption specified in subdivision 8 in effect 
 47.4   after any applicable change, rounded to the nearest integral 
 47.5   number of years, but not to exceed 30 years from the end of the 
 47.6   plan year in which the determination of the established date for 
 47.7   full funding using the procedure set forth in this clause is 
 47.8   made and not to be less than the period of years beginning in 
 47.9   the plan year in which the determination of the established date 
 47.10  for full funding using the procedure set forth in this clause is 
 47.11  made and ending by the date for full funding in effect before 
 47.12  the change; and 
 47.13     (vii) the period determined under item (vi) must be added 
 47.14  to the date as of which the actuarial valuation was prepared and 
 47.15  the date obtained is the new established date for full funding.  
 47.16     (d) For the Minneapolis Employees Retirement Fund, the 
 47.17  established date for full funding is June 30, 2020. 
 47.18     (e) For the general employees retirement plan of the Public 
 47.19  Employees Retirement Association, the established date for full 
 47.20  funding is June 30, 2031. 
 47.21     (f) For the retirement plans for which the annual actuarial 
 47.22  valuation indicates an excess of valuation assets over the 
 47.23  actuarial accrued liability, the valuation assets in excess of 
 47.24  the actuarial accrued liability must be recognized as a 
 47.25  reduction in the current contribution requirements by an amount 
 47.26  equal to the amortization of the excess expressed as a level 
 47.27  percentage of pay over a 30-year period beginning anew with each 
 47.28  annual actuarial valuation of the plan. 
 47.29     Sec. 11.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 356.30, 
 47.30  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
 47.31     Subd. 3.  [COVERED PLANS.] This section applies to the 
 47.32  following retirement plans: 
 47.33     (1) the general state employees retirement plan of the 
 47.34  Minnesota State Retirement System, established under chapter 
 47.35  352; 
 47.36     (2) the correctional state employees retirement plan of the 
 48.1   Minnesota State Retirement System, established under chapter 
 48.2   352; 
 48.3      (3) the unclassified employees retirement program, 
 48.4   established under chapter 352D; 
 48.5      (4) the State Patrol retirement plan, established under 
 48.6   chapter 352B; 
 48.7      (5) the legislators retirement plan, established under 
 48.8   chapter 3A; 
 48.9      (6) the elective state officers' retirement plan, 
 48.10  established under chapter 352C; 
 48.11     (7) the general employees retirement plan of the Public 
 48.12  Employees Retirement Association, established under chapter 353; 
 48.13     (8) the public employees police and fire retirement plan of 
 48.14  the Public Employees Retirement Association, established under 
 48.15  chapter 353; 
 48.16     (9) the local government correctional service retirement 
 48.17  plan of the Public Employees Retirement Association, established 
 48.18  under chapter 353E; 
 48.19     (10) the Teachers Retirement Association, established under 
 48.20  chapter 354; 
 48.21     (11) the Minneapolis Employees Retirement Fund, established 
 48.22  under chapter 422A; 
 48.23     (12) the Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Fund Association, 
 48.24  established under chapter 354A; 
 48.25     (13) the St. Paul Teachers Retirement Fund Association, 
 48.26  established under chapter 354A; 
 48.27     (14) the Duluth Teachers Retirement Fund Association, 
 48.28  established under chapter 354A; and 
 48.29     (15) the judges' retirement fund, established by sections 
 48.30  490.121 to 490.132; and 
 48.31     (16) the postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers 
 48.32  retirement plan established under chapter 353G. 
 48.33     Sec. 12.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 356.302, 
 48.34  subdivision 7, is amended to read: 
 48.35     Subd. 7.  [COVERED RETIREMENT PLANS.] This section applies 
 48.36  to the following retirement plans: 
 49.1      (1) the general state employees retirement plan of the 
 49.2   Minnesota State Retirement System, established by chapter 352; 
 49.3      (2) the unclassified state employees retirement program of 
 49.4   the Minnesota State Retirement System, established by chapter 
 49.5   352D; 
 49.6      (3) the general employees retirement plan of the Public 
 49.7   Employees Retirement Association, established by chapter 353; 
 49.8      (4) the Teachers Retirement Association, established by 
 49.9   chapter 354; 
 49.10     (5) the Duluth Teachers Retirement Fund Association, 
 49.11  established by chapter 354A; 
 49.12     (6) the Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Fund Association, 
 49.13  established by chapter 354A; 
 49.14     (7) the St. Paul Teachers Retirement Fund Association, 
 49.15  established by chapter 354A; 
 49.16     (8) the Minneapolis Employees Retirement Fund, established 
 49.17  by chapter 422A; 
 49.18     (9) the state correctional employees retirement plan of the 
 49.19  Minnesota State Retirement System, established by chapter 352; 
 49.20     (10) the State Patrol retirement plan, established by 
 49.21  chapter 352B; 
 49.22     (11) the public employees police and fire plan of the 
 49.23  Public Employees Retirement Association, established by chapter 
 49.24  353; 
 49.25     (12) the local government correctional service retirement 
 49.26  plan of the Public Employees Retirement Association, established 
 49.27  by chapter 353E; and 
 49.28     (13) the judges' retirement plan, established by sections 
 49.29  490.121 to 490.132; and 
 49.30     (14) the postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers 
 49.31  retirement plan established under chapter 353G. 
 49.32     Sec. 13.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 356.303, 
 49.33  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
 49.34     Subd. 4.  [COVERED RETIREMENT PLANS.] This section applies 
 49.35  to the following retirement plans: 
 49.36     (1) the legislators retirement plan, established by chapter 
 50.1   3A; 
 50.2      (2) the general state employees retirement plan of the 
 50.3   Minnesota State Retirement System, established by chapter 352; 
 50.4      (3) the correctional state employees retirement plan of the 
 50.5   Minnesota State Retirement System, established by chapter 352; 
 50.6      (4) the State Patrol retirement plan, established by 
 50.7   chapter 352B; 
 50.8      (5) the elective state officers retirement plan, 
 50.9   established by chapter 352C; 
 50.10     (6) the unclassified state employees retirement program, 
 50.11  established by chapter 352D; 
 50.12     (7) the general employees retirement plan of the Public 
 50.13  Employees Retirement Association, established by chapter 353; 
 50.14     (8) the public employees police and fire plan of the Public 
 50.15  Employees Retirement Association, established by chapter 353; 
 50.16     (9) the local government correctional service retirement 
 50.17  plan of the Public Employees Retirement Association, established 
 50.18  by chapter 353E; 
 50.19     (10) the Teachers Retirement Association, established by 
 50.20  chapter 354; 
 50.21     (11) the Duluth Teachers Retirement Fund Association, 
 50.22  established by chapter 354A; 
 50.23     (12) the Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Fund Association, 
 50.24  established by chapter 354A; 
 50.25     (13) the St. Paul Teachers Retirement Fund Association, 
 50.26  established by chapter 354A; 
 50.27     (14) the Minneapolis Employees Retirement Fund, established 
 50.28  by chapter 422A; and 
 50.29     (15) the judges' retirement fund, established by sections 
 50.30  490.121 to 490.132; and 
 50.31     (16) the postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers 
 50.32  retirement plan established under chapter 353G. 
 50.33     Sec. 14.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 356.315, is 
 50.34  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
 50.35     Subd. 5b.  [POSTSENTENCING OFFICERS AND EMERGENCY 
 50.36  DISPATCHERS.] The applicable benefit accrual rate is 1.9 percent.
 51.1      Sec. 15.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 356.465, 
 51.2   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
 51.3      Subd. 3.  [COVERED RETIREMENT PLANS.] The provisions of 
 51.4   this section apply to the following retirement plans: 
 51.5      (1) the general state employees retirement plan of the 
 51.6   Minnesota State Retirement System established under chapter 352; 
 51.7      (2) the correctional state employees retirement plan of the 
 51.8   Minnesota State Retirement System established under chapter 352; 
 51.9      (3) the State Patrol retirement plan established under 
 51.10  chapter 352B; 
 51.11     (4) the legislators retirement plan established under 
 51.12  chapter 3A; 
 51.13     (5) the judges retirement plan established under chapter 
 51.14  490; 
 51.15     (6) the general employees retirement plan of the Public 
 51.16  Employees Retirement Association established under chapter 353; 
 51.17     (7) the public employees police and fire plan of the Public 
 51.18  Employees Retirement Association established under chapter 353; 
 51.19     (8) the teachers retirement plan established under chapter 
 51.20  354; 
 51.21     (9) the Duluth Teachers Retirement Fund Association 
 51.22  established under chapter 354A; 
 51.23     (10) the St. Paul Teachers Retirement Fund Association 
 51.24  established under chapter 354A; 
 51.25     (11) the Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Fund Association 
 51.26  established under chapter 354A; 
 51.27     (12) the Minneapolis employees retirement plan established 
 51.28  under chapter 422A; 
 51.29     (13) the Minneapolis Firefighters Relief Association 
 51.30  established under chapter 423C; 
 51.31     (14) the Minneapolis Police Relief Association established 
 51.32  under chapter 423B; and 
 51.33     (15) the local government correctional service retirement 
 51.34  plan of the Public Employees Retirement Association established 
 51.35  under chapter 353E; and 
 51.36     (16) the postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers 
 52.1   retirement plan established under chapter 353G. 
 52.2      Sec. 16.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 356.555, 
 52.3   subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
 52.4      Subd. 4.  [COVERED PENSION PLANS.] This section applies to 
 52.5   the following pension plans: 
 52.6      (1) the general state employees retirement plan governed by 
 52.7   chapter 352; 
 52.8      (2) the correctional state employees retirement plan 
 52.9   governed by chapter 352; 
 52.10     (3) the general employees retirement plan of the Public 
 52.11  Employees Retirement Association governed by chapter 353; 
 52.12     (4) the public employees police and fire plan governed by 
 52.13  chapter 353; 
 52.14     (5) the teachers retirement plan governed by chapter 354; 
 52.15     (6) the Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Fund Association 
 52.16  governed by chapter 354A; 
 52.17     (7) the Saint Paul Teachers Retirement Fund Association 
 52.18  governed by chapter 354A; 
 52.19     (8) the Duluth Teachers Retirement Fund Association 
 52.20  governed by chapter 354A; 
 52.21     (9) the Minneapolis employees retirement plan governed by 
 52.22  chapter 422A; 
 52.23     (10) the Minneapolis Police Relief Association governed by 
 52.24  chapter 423B; and 
 52.25     (11) the Minneapolis Fire Department Relief Association 
 52.26  governed by chapter 423C; and 
 52.27     (12) the postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers 
 52.28  retirement plan governed by chapter 353G.  
 52.29     Sec. 17.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
 52.30     Sections 1 to 16 are effective July 1, 2005.  
 52.31                             ARTICLE 3 
 52.32             ACTUARIAL COST ESTIMATE; FUNDING OF STUDY 
 52.33     Section 1.  [ACTUARIAL COST ESTIMATE.] 
 52.34     (a) Under the direction of the Legislative Commission on 
 52.35  Pensions and Retirement, the consulting actuary retained by the 
 52.36  commission shall prepare an actuarial cost estimate of the 
 53.1   proposed postsentencing officers and emergency dispatchers 
 53.2   retirement plan.  
 53.3      (b) The actuarial cost estimate must be prepared based on 
 53.4   the plan demographic information assembled by the executive 
 53.5   director of the Minnesota State Retirement System and by the 
 53.6   executive director of the Public Employees Retirement 
 53.7   Association.  The executive directors shall obtain preliminary 
 53.8   plan membership certifications of the applicable postsentencing 
 53.9   officers and emergency dispatchers by July 1, 2004, and shall 
 53.10  certify the necessary demographic data in computer-readable 
 53.11  format to the commission-retained actuary on or before September 
 53.12  1, 2004.  
 53.13     (c) The actuarial cost estimate must be transmitted to the 
 53.14  executive director of the Legislative Commission on Pensions and 
 53.15  Retirement, the director of the Legislative Reference Library, 
 53.16  the commissioner of corrections, the chief of the State Patrol, 
 53.17  the executive director of the Public Employees Retirement 
 53.18  Association, the executive director of the Association of 
 53.19  Minnesota Counties, and the executive director of the League of 
 53.20  Minnesota Cities on or before February 1, 2005.  
 53.21     (d) The director of the Legislative Reference Library shall 
 53.22  make the results of the actuarial cost estimate available on the 
 53.23  Legislative Reference Library's Web site.  
 53.24     (e) The executive director of the Legislative Commission on 
 53.25  Pensions and Retirement shall take the steps to amend any 
 53.26  contract with the commission-retained actuary to accommodate 
 53.27  this project.  
 53.28     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
 53.29     $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
 53.30  executive director of the Legislative Commission on Pensions and 
 53.31  Retirement to fund the actuarial cost estimate required under 
 53.32  section 1.  
 53.33     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
 53.34     Sections 1 and 2 are effective on the day following final 
 53.35  enactment.